

























God siFted a whole ration that He nii?bUei?d 
choice grain over into this wilderness,” 

7 C ( Gov.StQUCHTo.vs Election sermon. 1668 .) 


GQV.Stou 


MTCI 



















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74 

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AUG 1 6 1^2 


BOSTON COLLEGE LIBRAftV 

QBESINUT Q246? 




TO 

&U Citizens of Wilton 

WHO REPRESENT THE EARLY FAMILIES OF THE TOWN, 
AND TO THEIR DESCENDANTS EVERYWHERE, 


THESE PAGES 


ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. 









ACTION OF THE TOWN. 


Voted, That Albert K. Teele , Janies M. Robbins , Charles 
Breck , and Edmund J. Baker be a committee for procuring 
the 'writing and publishing a History of the Town. 

March 3, 1884. 


ORGANIZATION OF THE COMMITTEE. 


March <p, 1884. 

The Committee on the Town History met at the house of 
James M. Robbins , at J o'clock , P M. Hon. Jatties M. Robbins 
was made Chairman , and Charles Breck, Secretary. 

On motion of E. J. Baker it was Voted, That the writing 
of the history be placed in charge of Rev. A. K. Teele. 

Charles Breck, Secretary. 


ILLUSTRATIONS BY 

GEORGE J. LA CROIX , 

Assisted by 

FRANK MTRICK. 


ENGRAVINGS BY 


J. A. J. WILCOX , 
GEO. f. LA CROIX. 















PREFACE. 


I F the lapse of years makes history, the municipal life of Milton 
running back two and a quarter centuries, and the settlement of 
the precinct reaching twenty-five years farther into the past, would 
seem to furnish rich material for the historic pen. Had there been 
an early annalist to record the events of passing years, the labor of 
the historian would have been comparatively light. As it is, most of 
the occurrences and transactions of other days, with the actors 
therein, have passed out of the knowledge of the present; the sources 
from which they can be reproduced are scanty and obscure, and the 
imperfect information that exists must be collected from widely 
dispersed records. 

To bring together the material thus scattered, and to collate from 
contemporaneous history the matter that ought to pass on to those who 
follow us, has been the work of the committee selected by the town. 

While engaged in this work, their associate, the Hon. James M. 
Robbins, who was versed above others in the early history of the 
town, was removed by death. Before the prostration of his powers, 
the first nine chapters of our history, then written, were in his pos¬ 
session for three months, and received his careful examination and 
approval. He also furnished the committee with valuable notes, 
memoranda, and statistical information not found in his bi-centennial 
address; and his executors have kindly placed in our hands all 
Milton documents falling into their custody at his decease. But, for 
all this, it is fully believed that the unwritten history lost by his 
death far exceeds in value what he has written. 

This volume covers the entire period of local history from 1634, 
when the first house was built south of the river, and even from the 
land-grants ot an earlier date, to the present time. The sources from 
which early facts and essential information have been derived can 
hardly be enumerated; chief among them are the following: Town 
Records; State Archives; Massachusetts Historical Society; New 
England Historic Genealogical Society; Early files of Boston news¬ 
papers at the Boston Athenaeum. We are greatly indebted to many 
citizens of Milton for useful suggestions and practical help. Even 
vii 



PREFACE. 


viii 

non-residents and strangers have courteously responded to applications 
for information. Our warmest thanks are due to J. Hammond Trum¬ 
bull, of Hartford, Conn. ; E. G-. Chamberlain, of Auburndale; S. D. 
Hunt, the first teacher of Milton High School; A. Churchill and J. R. 
Churchill, of Dorchester; N. F. Safford, E. L. Pierce, E. D. Wads¬ 
worth, G. K. Gannett, J. Wesley Martin, and many others not par¬ 
ticularly named. Our honored citizen, Henry A. Whitney, has 
furnished, for the embellishment of the volume, wood engravings of 
six of the oldest houses. 

The blank forms for genealogical records, left with every family 
four years ago, have been returned in many cases, and make up a 
rich collection of genealogical matter, too voluminous for our annals, 
but furnishing data and facts used all through these pages. The 
tablets are now in the hands of the binder, and will be deposited with 
the town archives. 

In coming to the end of the work assigned them the committee 
cannot hope that they have always taken the wisest course in the 
arrangement and in the general treatment of the events and doings 
of more than two and a half centuries spread out before them ; but 
they have done the best in their power. In dilating on our own times 
it may seem that they sometimes speak minutely of matters that are 
of little consequence ; but these soon pass into history, and their 
record posterity will thank us for. 

The beautiful hills of Milton, which the lapse of years does not 
change, and its charming natural scenery form no small part of its 
history, identifying our times with the days of our fathers. In the 
enjoyment of all this freshness of nature, so carefully preserved, and 
in cordial fellowship with the families and citizens around us, we have 
passed the brightest, happiest years of a life now verging to its close. 
If, in this sojourn, it has happened that by us the humblest life has 
been made brighter, or the burden has been lifted from the weary, 
or the feet of the wanderer has been restored to right paths, or the 
heart of the despondent has been inspired with heavenly hope, the 
assurance would clothe the past years with almost celestial brightness. 
And if, by these imperfect annals, it shall be deemed that our 
municipal history has been partially gathered up and preserved, and 
thereby a better knowledge of the past and of the present may be 
conveyed to coming generations, it M ill be the reward for years of 
labor. 

A. K. TEELE. 

Milton, Dec. 18, 1887. 


CONTENTS. 


[For Alphabetical Index of Names and Topics, see end of the volume.] 


CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Aboriginal Inhabitants.—Numerical Strength.—Final Head-quarters 
of the Tribe. — Pestilence among the Indians.—Visit of the Pil¬ 
grims to Milton. — The Unexplored Wilderness. — Massachusetts. 

— Home of the Tribe —Deed of Kitchamakin.— Labors for the 
Indians. — Rev. John Eliot.—Removal of the Indians .... 1-10 

CHAPTER II. 

Precinct Inhabitants. — Ancient Plan. — Location of Grants. — Minis¬ 
terial Lands.— Allotment of the Sixth Division. — Parallel Lines. 

— Biographic Notices.11-30 

CHAPTER III. 

Incorporation, Name, Boundaries.—Early Settlers. — Petition for In¬ 
corporation. — Signification of Unquity-Quisset. — Name of Milton. 

— Birthplace of Robert Tucker. —Milton Boundaries. — Blue Hill 
Lands. — Milton’s Petition. — Braintree’s Remonstrance. — Division 
of Blue Hill Lands. —First Accession, 1812. — Petition of Parties 
to be set off. — Second Accession, 1754. —Change of Boundary on 
the East. —Act of the Legislature. — Present Area of Milton . . 31-48 

CHAPTER IV. 

Topographic. — Surface. — Soil. — Crops. — Climate. — Weather 
Table.—Blue Hill River. — Pine-Tree Brook. — Balster’s Brook. 

— Gulliver’s Brook, or Uncaty Brook. — Gooch’s Pond. — Asa’s 
Pond. — Pierce’s Pond. — Hemmenway Pond. — Houghton’s Pond, 
or Hoosie-Whisick. — Geological and Mineralogieal. — State Col¬ 
lection of Minerals —Diluvian Furrows.— Boulders. —Bed of Red 
Porphyry. — The Blue Hills. — Great Blue Hill. —Observatory.— 

Tower.—Massachusetts Trigonometrical Survey. — U.S. Coast 
Survey. — Meteorological Observatory. — The Indian. — Forestry 
Lands. —The Outlook. — Table of Altitudes. — Latitude and Longi¬ 
tude.— Maps. — Owners and Occupants of Houses.49-101 

CHAPTER V. 

Milton HilK —New Inhabitants.— Governor Jonathan Belcher.—Rowe 
Family.—William Foye. — Samuel Littlefield.—Notable Events. 

— Badcock Family. — Benjamin Pratt. — Glover Farm. — Swift 
Estate. —John Gill. — Joseph Belcher.— Miller Family. — Col. 

Joseph Gooch. — Redman Estate. — Daniel Briggs. —Holbrook 
House. — Governor Thomas Hutchinson. — Hutchinson House.— 

Milton Hill Poem. — Other Milton Estates.—Estates on Adams 

Street. — Daniel Vose. — Comparison.102-151 

ix 







CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER VI. 

Old Houses, Cellars, and Landmarks. — First House. — East Milton. — 

Canton Avenue and Vicinity. — Pound. — Powder-house. — Poor- 
house Lot. — Provision for the Poor. — Pine-Tree Brook. —Bal- 
ster’s Brook. — Ancient Houses. — Mingo Hill. — Hurland Street. 

— Atherton Tavern. — Billings’ Tavern. — Brush Hill. — Scott’s 
Woods. — White’s and Wild’s Tavern. — Clark’s Tavern.—New 
State.—Gun Hill Street. — Algerine Corner.152-187 

CHAPTER VII. 

Highways and By-ways.—Road over Milton Hill, 1654.—A Part of 
Canton Avenue, 1660. — Churchill’s Lane, 1661. — First Meeting¬ 
house.— Pleasant Street, 1669.—Road from Mattapan to Brook, 

1670-3. — Foot-path, County Highway to Meeting-house, 1672.— 

Vose’s Lane, 1673. — Foot-path, Brush Hill to Meeting-house, 

1674.—Brush Hill Road, 1676-7.—Road from Pine Trees to 
Meeting-house, 1680. — Road from Pine Trees to Dorchester Line, 

1681.—Change in Location of Brook Road, 1694.—Rev. Peter 
Thacher’s Cellar.—Foot-path from New State to Meeting-house, 

1696. — Brush Hill Road widened, 1706. — Road from Ox-pen to 
Mattapan Bridge, 1712. — Road over Blue Hill Land, 1713.—White’s 
Lane, 1714. — Robbins Street, 1722. — Road over Blue Hill Land 
from Stoughton to S. Tucker’s, 1734. — Road around Wigwam Hill, 

1764. —Brush Hill Turnpike. — Blue Hill Turnpike, or Randolph 
Turnpike. — Atherton Street. — Railroads.—Repairs of Highways. 

— Change of Plan. — Superintendent of Highways. — Commission¬ 
ers of Highways.— Results.188-211 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Tax-Lists and Town Officers. — First Recorded Tax-List. — A.D. 1700. 

— A.D. 1750. — A.D. 1800. — More Recent Statements. — Select¬ 
men, 1668-1887. — Town Clerks, 1662-1887. — Town Treasurers, 
1704-5-1887. — Collectors, 1766-1887. — Moderators, 1706-1887. — 

School Committee, 1827-1887. — Senators.— Representatives, 1666- 
1887.—Census.212-235 


CHAPTER IX. 

Ministers of Milton. — Rev. Joseph Emerson.—Rev. Mr. Wiswall.— 

Rev. Mr. Bouse. — Rev. Thomas Mighill. — Rev. Samuel Man.— 

Origin of the Thacliers.—Rev. Peter Thacher. — Thacher’s Day. 

— End of his Long Ministry. — Funeral. — Works. —Taylor 
Family.— Rev. John Taylor.—Rev. Nathaniel Robbins.—Rev. 

Joseph McKean. — Rev. Samuel Gile. — Controversies. — New 
Meeting-house. — Death of Dr. Gile.—Rev. Benjamin Huntoon. 

— Rev. Joseph Angier. — Rev. John H. Morison.—Rev. Francis 
T. Washburne. — Rev. Frederick Frothingham.—Rev. Roderick 
Stebbins. —First Evangelical Church. — Rev. Samuel Cozzens. — 

Rev. Albert K. Teele. — Rev. Calvin G. Hill. — Stone Chureh. — 

Second Evangelical Church. — Lower Mills Baptist Church. — 
Retrospect.. 236-273 


CHAPTER X. 

Organization of Church, Meeting-houses, and various Town Affairs. — 
Church Organization. — Covenant. — Minister’s House. — Second 
Meeting-house. — Third Meeting-house.—Fourth Meeting-house. 
— Other Town Buildings. — Old Town-House.—New Town-Hall. 






CONTENTS. 


XI 


— Milton Social Library. — Ladies’ Circulating Library. —Agricult¬ 
ural Library. — Public Library. — Social and Benevolent Society. 

— Missionary Society. — Society of Christian Endeavor. — Lit¬ 
erary Societies. — Interesting Public Occasions. — Corporate Seal 
of Milton. — “ Milton News.” — Post-Offices. — Bank. — Horse- 
tliief Society. — Fire Department. — Town Property. — Various 

Town Votes. 274-316 


CHAPTER XI. 

Schools. — Glimpses of Earliest Schools. — School-houses. — School 
Districts. — Some of the Teachers.—Era of Private Schools.— 

Madame Cranch’s School. — Peggy How’s School. — Jesse Pierce’s 
School. — Gideon F. Thayer’s School. — Annette Miller’s School. — 

Milton Academy. — Reestablishment of the Academy. — Public 
Schools in 1800.—New Districts.—Prudential Committee abol¬ 
ished. — Pleasant-street School. — Fairmount School. — High 
School. —New High-School Building. — List of Milton Teachers. 

— Milton Graduates of Harvard and other Colleges.317-356 

CHAPTER XII. 

Industries of Milton. — Neponset River. — Tides.—Fish. — Bridges. 

— Navigation. — Grain Business. — Lumber Business. — Coal 
Business. — First Grist Mill.— First Powder Mill. — First Paper 
Mill. — First Chocolate Mill. — First Slitting Mill. —First Violon¬ 
cello. — First Pianoforte. — First Artificial Spring-Leg. — First 
Railroad. — First Railroad Car. — Ship-building. — Tanneries. — 
Bakeries. — Ice. — Floriculture. — Granite Business. — Prominent 
Early Manufactures. 357-401 


CHAPTER XIII. 

Military Record. — King Philip’s War. — French and Indian Wars.— 

War of the Revolution. — Suffolk Resolves. — Shays’ Rebellion. — 

War of 1812. — The Great Civil War. — List of Milton’s Quota. . 402-465 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Milton Cemetery.—Enlargements.—Patriot Soldiers’Honored Graves. 


— Lots under Perpetual Care. — Benefactors of Milton Cemetery. 

— Record of Ancient Inscriptions. 466-498 

CHAPTER XV. 

Transactions of the Town relating to Small Pox. — John Mark Gourgas. 

— Inoculation. — Vaccination. —Experiments in 1809 . 499-508 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Milton Lawyers and Physicians. 509-534 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Noted Men and Women, and Early Families. 535-591 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

Flowers of Milton.—List of Trees and Plants growing naturally in 
Milton. — Trees of Milton. — Birds of Milton. 


592-627 










CONTENTS. 


xii 


APPENDIX A. 

Massachusetts. — Dr. .T. Hammond Trumbull’s Letter to Dr. E. E. Hale. 

— Arrow-Head Hill. — Josiah Cotton. — Cotton’s Vocabulary.— 

Dr. Trumbull’s Letter of March 6, 1885. — Dr. Trumbull’s Letter 
of May 12, 1887 . 631-640 


APPENDIX B. 


Rev. Peter Tliacher’s Journal 


. 641-657 


APPENDIX C. 


Rev. Peter Thacher’s Watch 


658-659 





LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Title-page. pagk 

Map of Parallel Lines .Facing 16 

Map of the Blue Hills ........ “ 72 

Map of.Milton. ......... “ 100 

Sea View from Milton Hill.102 

Inland View from Churchill House ....... 103 

Governor Belcher .Facing 110 

Foye and Glover Houses ....... “116 

Churchill House. “ 130 

Holbrook House. “ 132 

Hutchinson House. “ 136 

Governor Hutchinson. “140 

Wadsworth House ..152 

Joseph Vose Besidence.158 

Whitney House ......... Facing 172 

Robbins House.173 

Tucker House ............ 175 

Houghton House and Pond .Facing 180 

Site of First Church .......... 193 

Site of Peter Thacher House.199 

Historical Map .Facing 210 

Rev. Samuel Gile ......... “ 266 

Milton Churches.277 

Jesse Pierce .......... Facing 325 

Milton Academies. “ 338 

High School Building .......... 349 

Paul’s Bridge.362 

Milton Chocolate Works .Facing 372 

First Railroad Car in America.382 

Sheer-pole ............ 390 

Carting Pillars to Boston.393 

Daniel Vose.398 

xiii 






























xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Tail-piece.401 

Suffolk Resolves House .Facing 424 

Vose Coat-of-Arms.439 

Col. Josiah H. Vose .Facing 441 

Lieut. J. H. V. Field. “ 446 

Lieut. H. Frothingham Wolcott. “ 454 

Map of Milton Cemetery ....... Facing 466 

Pond in Milton Cemetery.475 

Lieut.-Gov. E. H. Robbins .Facing 513 

Dr. Holbrook. “ 527 

Dr. Holmes . . . . . . . . . . “ 533 

John Lillie. “ 545 

James M. Robbins ......... “ 547 

John Ruggles .......... “ 576 

Tucker Genealogical Tree . . . . . . . .581 

Milton Flowers .Facing 592 

The Oldest Elm.618 

Largest Tree-trunk.620 

Birds .............. 622 

Quail’s Nest.627 
























HISTORY OF MILTOH. 


CHAPTER I. 

ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS. 

I N the early part of the seventeenth century a distinct race 
inhabited these shores, and claimed this territory as their 
home. Though by nature rude and barbarous, and of a low- 
type of humanity, they possessed many noble qualities; and, 
when fairly dealt with and kindly treated, they often became 
the firm friends of the stranger who invaded their domain. 
Possessing tall and well-developed bodies, and a grave and 
dignified air, they impressed the early inhabitants as the true 
“ sons of the forest.” 

Gosnold, in his letter to his father, says : “ The natives when 
first seen were observed to be of tall stature, comely proportioned, 
strong, active, and, as it would seem, very healthful.” 

Capt. John Smith describes the country of the Massachusetts 
as the paradise of those parts: “ The sea-coast, as you pass, 
shows you all along large cornfields and great troops of well- 
proportioned people.” 

NUMERICAL STRENGTH. 

Various and conflicting estimates have been made of the 
native population of New England before the pestilence reduced 
their numbers. A probable computation places the number at 
not far from fifty thousand . 1 These all belonged to that family 
to which the French gave the name of Algonquin. 

The Massachusetts tribe, dwelling along the Massachusetts 
bay, in the days of its pride, is said to have been a numerous 
and powerful nation, many rating it as high as thirty thousand; 
but this computation is wholly unauthorized. 


1 Palfrey. 





2 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


The probable range of the Neponset tribe, the remnant or 
successor of the Massachusetts, was between the Blue Hills and 
Boston Bay. The hills of Milton and Dorchester, and the 
wide, open plain south of the Neponset in Quincj T , now com¬ 
monly known as “ The Farms,” but early called the “ Massa¬ 
chusetts Fields,” were the gathering place, the mustering 
ground, the “ Isthmean Field ” of the tribe. 


FINAL HEAD—QUARTERS OF THE TRIBE. 

A savin-covered knoll on the south-east side of the road from 
Quincy to Squantum, near the marsh, which is named in the 
earliest deeds of that section “ Massachusetts Hummock,” and is 
often called “ Sachem’s Knoll,” is the place where Chickataubut 
had his wigwam in the latter years of the tribe, after its glory 
had departed. The head-quarters of his predecessor, Nane- 
pashemet, was supposed to have been on the south side of the 
river, near the head of tide-water, most likely on that bold 
outlook, Milton Hill. 1 


PESTILENCE AMONG THE INDIANS. 

Richard Vines, who passed the winter of 1616-17 in camp 
on the river Saco, was the first to discover and report the 
ravages of the plague, which swept from the Penobscot river 
to Narragansett bay. He says : “ The country was in a manner 
left void of inhabitants.” 

Dermer, who touched at Plymouth in 1620, noticed the track 
of the recent pestilence: “ I passed along the coast, where I 
found some ancient plantations, not long since populous, now 
utterly void.” 

Gookin, reliable Indian authority, who wrote in 1674, placing 
the visitation in 1613 and 1614, says (Mass. Hist. Coll., I., 
148) : “ I have discoursed with some old Indians that were 
then youths, who say that the bodies all over were exceedingly 
yellow (describing it by a yellow garment they showed me), 


1 In 1884 a very ancient map of Boston and its environs was discovered in the British 
Museum, a transcript of which mav be seen in the Boston Public Library. The 
references on the margin are in the writing of Governor Winthrop, and the conclusion is 
that the map is his production. It bears no date, but the date is fixed in the following 
manner. Reference D. points to the Windmill, which was not erected prior to 1632 . The 
town of Agawam appears on the map; this was changed to Ipswich in 1634 . It follows 
that the map falls within these dates. 

On this ancient map our river is called Naponsett, while on many of the old maps 
after the incorporation of Milton, and before the present century, it is called “ Milton 
River," and, in a French map of 1780 , “ Riviere de Milton." 

The section on the south side of the river, including Squantum and the territory west, 
is dotted with wigwams, over which is written “ Indians." 



ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS. 


3 


both before they died and afterwards.” This would indicate 
“Yellow fever,” — an idea, however, disallowed by the medical 
fraternity. Most likely it was that scourge of the Indian, and 
also of the white man in later years, the small-pox. Whatever 
the nature of the disease, the result with the Massachusetts 
Indians was most disastrous and disheartening. Their sachem, 
Nanepashemet, had been killed, their families were broken up, 
and their numbers were greatly reduced. 

Gloom and depression settled down upon these once bold and 
fearless spirits. It was an auspicious time for the arrival of the 
Pilgrims to these shores. Our fathers found them, for the most 
part, inoffensive, peaceable, and open to the good influence of 
kindness and fellow-feeling; and all through the fierce and 
bloody wars with their race, in subsequent years, these Indians 
remained loyal and true. 


VISIT OF THE PLYMOUTH PILGRIMS TO MILTON. 

Before the expiration of a year after the landing of the Pilgrim 
Fathers at Plymouth they determined upon a visit to the 
“Massachusetts.” “For these ends the governors chose ten 
men, fit for the purpose, and sent Tisquantum, and two other 
salvages, to bring us to speech with the people, and interpret 
for us.” 

Captain Standish was in command, and Wiqslow, who was 
one of the company, has left a minute and interesting narrative 
of the visit, which furnishes the facts in this statement. 1 

They left Plymouth at midnight, the tide then serving, Sept. 
18, 1621, expecting to be there betimes the next morning. 
But it proved to be twenty leagues from New Plymouth, and 
they were all the next day on the passage, reaching the “ bottom 
of the bay ” in the evening, which is supposed to be Point Al- 
derton. 2 They remained in shallop over night. Going on 


1 See Young’s Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, chap. 14 . 

2 The statement first made by Belknap (Vol. 2 , p. 244 ) and followed by later writers, 
that this landing was at Copp’s Hill, is not supported by Winslow’s Narrative, nor can it be 
drawn from the nan-ative. 

Early writers and navigators considered what we now call the entrance of the harbor 
[i.e., Point Alderton] the beginning of the river. John Smith in 1614 may have only 
swept across the mouth of the harbor in his boats, mistaking this for “ the great river 
which I had no time to discover.” Captain Squeb, of the “ Mary and John,” was destined 
for Charles river, but came to anchor at Nantasket. The evidence is that the Plymouth 
Shallop stopped there in 1621 . Obbatinewat, whom they met, was a sachem of Massasoit, 
the Old Colony chief. He told them that he was a wandering chief; “ that he durst not 
then remain in any settled place for fear of the Tarentines; ” and that the Massachusetts 
Queen was an enemy to him. Had they landed at Copp’s Hill two rivers would have 
been in sight, the Charles and Mystic, whereas they saw but one. The morning of the 
20 th was spent with the Indians whom they first met; in the afternoon they crossed the 
Bay to Squantum, and in the passage had a view of the numerous islands in the harbor. 



4 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


shore in the morning of the 20th, they found lobsters and 
shell-fish, which had been gathered by the Indians, with whom 
they had friendly communication, meeting Obbatinewat, one of 
Massasoit’s sachems, who brought them to his Squaw Sachem. 
From this point they put off sometime in the afternoon of the 
20th, and that evening arrived at Squantum, probably so 
called from Tisquantum, their guide: “ Night it was, before 

we came to that side of the bay where this people were. On 
shore the salvages went, but found nobody. That night also 
we rid at anchor aboard the shallop.” 

On the morning of Friday, the 21st, they went ashore, 
and, leaving two of their number to guard the shallop, a band 
of eleven marched in arms into the country. The probable di¬ 
rection of their march would seem to be over the promontory of 
Squantum, and up through the open country towards the falls 
on the river, as they were in search of the people, and in this 
direction the Indian trails would naturally lead. “ Having 
gone three miles, we came to a place where corn had been newly 
gathered, a house pulled down, and the people gone.” 

A march of three miles from Squantum would bring them to 
the open section of country south of the Neponset, long called 
“ Massachusetts Fields.” 

This land was an open plain, fit for tillage, and by tradition 
was the garden of the Indians. “A mile from thence Nane- 
pashemet, their king, in his lifetime had lived. His house 
was not like others, but a scaffold was largely built with poles 
and planks, some six foot from the ground, and the house upon 
that, being situated on the top of a hill.” 

The distance of the march thus far would bring them well 
within the limits of Milton, and if we have hit upon the line of 
their route the head-waters of the Neponset may be supposed 
the place here reached, and our Milton Hill the hill, on the top 
of which stood the habitation of the Sachem Nanepashemet. 

Not far from this, in a bottom, they came upon a palisadoed 
fort, within which was a house, “wherein being dead, he lay 
buried.” 

About a mile from hence, we came to such another, but seated on the 
top of a hill. Here Nanepashemet was killed, none dwelling in it since 
the time of his death. At this place we stayed, and sent two salvages to look 
for the inhabitants, and to inform them of our ends in coming, that they 
might not be fearful of us. Within a mile of this place we found the 
women of the place together, with their corn in heaps, whither we suppose 
them to be fled for fear of us; and the more, because in divers places they 
had newly pulled down their houses, and for haste in one place had left 
some of their corn covered with a mat, and nobody with it. With much 
fear they entertained us at first; but seeing our gentle carriage toward them, 


ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS. 


5 


they took heart and entertained us in the best manner they could, boiling 
cod, and such other things as they had for us. At length, with much send¬ 
ing for, came one of their men, shaking and trembling for fear. But when 
he saw we intended him no hurt, but came to truck, he promised us his skins 
also. Having well spent the day, we returned to the shallop, almost all 
the women accompanying us to truck. 

It is impossible to identify witb certainty the hills and places 
spoken of by these early visitants. The bottom where the king 
lay buried may have been any of the valleys west of Milton 
Hill. The hill on which was the house where the sachem was 
killed may have been Academy Hill, or Wadsworth Hill, or 
Wigwam Hill, or it may have been none of these; the exact 
locality is of small account. 

That this band of the Pilgrim Fathers was hereabouts, two 
hundred and sixty-six years ago, and found the Indian the 
rightful owner of these lands which we now occupy; his wig¬ 
wams, with its sable inmates, on these summits where now 
stand our dwellings; his corn growing on the fields we now 
cultivate, — cannot admit of doubt. 

THE UNEXPLORED WILDERNESS. 

Could we repeople this territory from the Blue Hills to the 
Bay with its aboriginal tribes, and reproduce nature in the 
forms, and aspects, and similitudes of two and a half centuries 
ago, a picture would be before us calculated to bewilder and 
surprise the beholder. 

I cannot venture on a minute description; but give back 
again to nature 1 this place of our homes; let our churches 
and school-houses and dwellings disappear; strike out from 
the landscape all roads and lines of demarcation, and all the 
improvements that embellish and beautify; let the wilderness, 
with its native inhabitants of bird and beast, assert its claim 
over these mountains and fields; and then replace the red man, 
his trails leading from hill to hill, from seaboard to mountain, 
the paddle of his canoe alone disturbing the quiet of the river, 
now vocal with the hum of business, the smoke of his wigwam 
enlivening the scene by day, and his council-fires lighting up 
the woods by night, — thus, in imagination, we may gain an im¬ 
perfect view of those primeval days. 




6 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 

Looming np six hundred and thirty-five feet above the level 
of the ocean, and plainly seen along our coast, and far out at 
sea, are the Blue Hills of Milton. 

It is now generally conceded that from these hills was derived 
originally the name of this Commonwealth. Roger Williams 
says [Deposition taken at Narragansett, 28 June, 1682, 3d 
Mass. Hist. Coll., II., 235. —R. I. Coll., IV., 208]: “I have 
learnt that the Massachusetts was called so from the Blew 
Hills.” Josias Cotton, at the end of “ Cotton’s Vocabulary,” 
refers to Massachusetts as “ an hill in the form of an arrow¬ 
head.” 

According to the view advanced and ably supported by the 
the great Indian scholar, J. Hammond Trumbull, of Hartford, 
Conn., the lineage of the name seems to be this: — 

1. The tribal name of the Indians living around the Great 
Hill was, among themselves, Massadchuseiick; this became 
corrupted, through ignorance of the language, into Mass-adchu- 
set, of which we have the anglicized plural Massachusetts. 

2. Hence their country came to be called by their name. 

3. Hence the Colony and then the State took the same 
appellation. 


For the benefit of those interested, the question as to the 
disputed signification of Massachusetts is fully treated in the 
Appendix, where may be seen the letters of Dr. Trumbull, and 
his conclusions on the subject. 


HOME OF THE TRIBE. 


7 


HOME OF THE TRIBE. 


The Massachusetts tribe never attained to its former glory. 

Chickataubut died of small-pox in 1633, leaving a family of 
young children. During the minority of his heirs Kitchamakin, 
liis brother, was made chief of the tribe. This chief failed to 
possess a character calculated to inspire his people with hope 
and courage. He seems to have gathered the scattered rem¬ 
nants of the nation near the head of tide-waters, on the 
Neponset, and to have settled down in quiet subjection to the 
incoming people. In 1636 he deeded the whole territory of 
Unquity to Richard Collicot. 


DEED OF KITCHAMAKIN. 


This Indenture made the eighth of October in the year 1636 between 
Richard Collicot and Kitchamakin Sachem of Massachusetts witnesseth 
these presents. That I Kitchamakin doe covenant grant and sell unto 
Richard Collicot of Dorchester all that tract of land beyond the Mill within 
the bounds of Dorchester to the utmost extent, for the use of the planta¬ 
tion of Dorchester, for them and their heirs forever; only reserving for 
my own use and for my men forty acres where I like best, and in case, I 
and they leave it, the same alsoe to belong unto Dorchester, giving some 
consideration for the paines bestowed upon it. Moreover forty acres I have 
given to Richard Collicot lying next to his lott by the south side. And I 
the said Kitchamakin doe acknowledge to have received the vallow of 
twenty-eight fathoms of Wampum, being the full payment of the fine; 
and I the said Kitchamakin doe acknowledge myself satisfied. 

In witness whereof, to this present indenture I have sott my hand the 
day and year above written. 



The mark of 



Signed in presence of 
me. The mark of 
18th (4) 1649. 


These are to certify whom it may Concern that we whose names are 
hereunto subscribed were present when Kitchamakin above named, did 
voluntarily signe the Indenture above, as his own act and deed, at the re¬ 
quest of the select men of Dorchester, because the old deeds were some¬ 
thing decayed with ill-keeping, the day and year above written. 


[■Public Archives.'] 


Humphrey Atherton. 
John Wiswall. 


He went with the colonial commissioners to Narragansett as 
guide and interpreter. He was always ready to serve the Eng¬ 
lish, sometimes perhaps to the injury of his own people. 


8 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


LABORS FOR THE INDIANS. 

A deep interest and real enthusiasm was awakened in the 
hearts of the colonists for the native inhabitants. They were 
brought into daily connection with them as laborers on the farm, 
and as helpers in the family; and great efforts were made to 
teach them the arts of civilization and the truth of Christianity. 
Some of the people of Unquity then living on Milton Hill 
devoted much time, year after year, in teaching them to read. 
There was an earnest and heartfelt concern for their moral and 
spiritual welfare. Plans were devised for their education and 
enlightenment, by creating an Indian department in Harvard 
College, and erecting a building for this purpose. Excellent 
men and women gave their thoughts and devoted their lives to 
this service. 


REV. JOHN ELIOT. 

First and foremost of all was Rev. John Eliot of Roxbury. 
He attained a knowledge of the dialect, and began to preach to 
the Indians as early as 1646. His labors were confined to no 
locality. We find him at Dorchester, Nonantum, Natick, Plym¬ 
outh, on the Cape, and wherever the tribes were scattered. 
“ He made a missionary tour every fortnight, planted churches, 
and visited all the Indians in Massachusetts and Plymouth 
colonies, even as far as Cape Cod.” And he was rewarded 
with wonderful success in his work. Opposition only increased 
his zeal, obstacles but fired him with fresh energy. He says in 
a letter: “ I have not been dry, night or day, from the third 

day of the week unto the sixth; but so traveled and at night 
pulled off my boots, rung my stockings and on with them again 
and so continue. But Cod steps in and helps.” 

He translated the Bible into the Indian language; it was 
printed at Cambridge in 1663, and a second edition in 1685. 
The following is the title-page: — 

“Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up Bibltjm God. Na- 
neeswe Nukkone Testament Kah Wonk Wusku Testament.” 

This was the first Bible printed in this country, and it is 
believed that there is but one man living who can read it. Mr. 
Eliot often labored with the Neponset Indians. Gookin says 
he preached to the Indians at Stoughton’s Mill. Tradition has 
fixed these meetings in Yose’s grove, and on the Milton side at 
the wigwam of Kitchamakin. 


HOME OF THE TRIBE. 


9 


Eliot describes a collision between himself and the Dorchester 
sachem, Kitchamakin, who remonstrated against the apostle’s 
course, which, he s&d, all the sachems were determined to re¬ 
sist. “ It pleased God,” says Eliot, “ to raise my spirit not to 
passion but to bold resolution, telling him it was God’s work I 
was about, and He was with me, and I feared not him nor all 
the Sachems in the country.” 

Kitchamakin afterwards became a Christian. King Philip 
treated Eliot with scorn, but dared not injure him. He took 
hold of his button, saying he cared no more for the Gospel 
than for that button. 1 

REMOVAL OE THE INDIANS. 

As the inhabitants were increasing at the Mill, and the out- 
lands of Dorchester were needed for the colonists, at the request 
of Mr. Eliot in 1657 the town granted a tract of land of six 
thousand acres, for the use of the Indians, at and about Pon- 
kapog pond, now mostly in Canton, but then in Dorchester. 
From this time they took the name of the Ponkapog tribe. 

The following is Gookin’s account of the place in 1674: 
“ The next town is Pakomit or Ponkipog. The signification of 
the name is taken from a spring that ariseth out of red earth. 
This town is a small town, and hath not above twelve families 
in it, and so about sixty souls. This is the second praying 
town. The Indians that settled here removed from Neponset 
Mill.” 

To this place they removed in 1657, and continued in quiet 
possession of the schools and religious privileges supplied them, 
under the charge of Corporal Thomas Swift, of Milton, until 
the general uprising of the Indians in 1675, when the various 
tribes combined against the English. Then, from considerations 
of prudence and safety, in the fall of 1675, they were removed 
temporarily to Long Island in Boston harbor. In the fol¬ 
lowing spring they were remanded to their planting-grounds. 
Court Records, V., 86, 5, May, 1676: — 

Ordered that the Indians be immediately removed to convenient places 
for their planting, i.e., Ponkapoag Indians at Brush Hill, or as near as they 
may with safety to their own planting fields, and that they place their wig¬ 
wams in or near some English garrison there. 

These Indians remained loyal to the English, and engaged 
with them against their own race, in King Philip’s war, in 


1 Neal. 



10 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


which nine-tenths of the hostile Indians were destroyed; and, 
according to the estimate of Dr. Trumbull, in his “ History of 
Connecticut,” “about one-eleventh part of the able-bodied men 
of the colonies were killed or lost.” 

In the year 1684, six years before the death of Mr. Eliot, 
Rev. Peter Thacher of Milton, who had acquired the language, 
at the request of Mr. Eliot, instituted a monthly lecture at 
Ponkapog for the benefit of the Indians. This was continued 
for many years. 

Thacher’s Journal: — 

July 8, 1684. This day the Major-General [Gookin] and old Mr. Eliot 
were at my house to speak to me about preaching a lecture to the Indians 
once a month. 

It is said that they never lost their attachment to Unquity; 
hut as long as the pure-blooded Indians remained at Ponkapog 
they made a yearly pilgrimage to the home of their fathers, and 
the graves of their ancestors. “ There are those now living 
who remember when the Mohoes and the Auhaughtons drew 
their grandmother, Dinah Moho, blind with age, on a hand-sled 
to the home of her ancestors. 1 Gradually the territory ceded 
to them passed into other hands. The last land belonging to 
the plantation was sold in 1827. 

This was done, at first, by long leases, in some cases approved 
by the town of Dorchester, but not without the careful scrutiny 
of the General Court. Many papers are found in the “ Public 
Archives,” indicating the care that was exercised over these 
lands, and the protection thrown around them to secure these 
homes to the Indian and his descendants. In vain, — the lapse 
of two centuries has effaced every claim of the red man from 
the record books. They and their homes have disappeared 
from among us. 


1 Dorchester History, p. 582. 




PRECINCT INHABITANTS. 


11 


CHAPTER II. 


PRECINCT INHABITANTS. 


HERE is a charm in reverting to those early times when 



the first inhabitants began to gather here, seeking a quiet 
home, and a refuge from oppression in this wilderness. We 
look upon the men and women of that day with feeling akin to 
reverence. They may have been rough in their exterior, and 
stern and unyielding in their nature; but they had clear heads 
and earnest hearts. Seen through the perspective of years the 
rough lines are softened down and a noble, stalwart character 
comes out to view. As a class, they were well educated, 
devout Christians, and zealous supporters of liberty. Some, 
indeed, had held eminent social position, and had enjoyed the 
advantages of the highest culture. Not a few were educated in 
the universities of Europe, and were remarkably qualified to 
solve the great problems of existence and government on these 
western shores. All this power, natural and acquired, was 
found needful in the experience that followed. 

The struggle for existence in the early years of the colony; 
the oft-repeated onset with native tribes; the French and In¬ 
dian and Spanish wars, extending through long periods of time, 
together with the conflicts with the mother-country, — brought 
into exercise executive ability, military knowledge and skill, 
moral courage, and physical endurance of the highest quality 
and in the highest degree. Nobly did these brave spirits face 
every obstacle, ward off every threatening danger, and turn the 
tide of apparent defeat into a successful and prosperous issue. 

Of such character were some of those who, though belong¬ 
ing to Dorchester, occupied the outposts or environs of her 
territory, on the south side of the Neponset, and were called 
Precinct Inhabitants. We learn of these men and times from 
the gleanings of the earliest records, from the statements of 
contemporaneous writers, and from other original sources of in¬ 
formation. 


ANCIENT PLAN. 


In December, 1838, an ancient plan of Milton on parchment 
was discovered, among the papers belonging to the proprietors 


12 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


of Dorchester, inscribed with the following memorandum: 
“ This plan was drawn on a paper plat formerly made by Mr. 
John Oliver for the Town of Dorchester, and now by their 
order is drawn on parchment by Joshua Fisher, April 25, 
1661.” John Oliver died in April, 1646, and his plan, drawn on 
paper, was copied on parchment in 1661, by Joshua Fisher. 

This plan has been reproduced for our history, and is found 
on p. 16. This furnishes the outlines of our town at the time 
the first grants were taken up, and when but few actual settlers 
were upon the ground. From this plan, and from other sources, 
we are able to obtain the following list of the first owners of 
these lands: — 


Robert Badcock, 
Nehemiah Bourne, 
Richard Collicot, 
William Daniels, 
Nicholas Ellen, 
John Glover, 

John Holman, 


William Hutchinson, 
Thomas Lewis, 
Anthony Newton, 
Andrew Pitcher, 
William Salsbury, 
Israel Stoughton, 
Bray Wilkins. 


LOCATION OF GRANTS. 

Israel Stoughton first appears on the Dorchester records as 
grantee of land in 1633. 

His grant was a tract of one hundred and one acres, on the 
south side of the Neponset, described as the “ Indian Fields,” 
embracing all the land from the river as far west as Buggies 
lane and School street, and south and east as far as the Russell 
estate extends; by a subsequent grant, purchase, or exchange, 
Mr. Stoughton came into possession of a second tract of sixty- 
one acres, adjoining the first and extending over Milton Hill to 
Mr. Dudley’s estate. 

These two lots include all the estates on both sides of Adams 
street from the river to Mr. Dudley’s residence, and also 
westerly as far as Ruggles lane and School street. Directly 
south of this was a tract of one hundred and twenty-nine acres, 
described as the “ first lot in the three divisions already layed 
out,” owned in common by John Grenaway, Edward Bullocke, 
and Robert Pearse, husband of Ann Grenaway. This includes 
the estates of J. M. and W. H. Forbes, Dudley, Tappan, Ware, 
Merriam, Bancroft, and Glover; and also the estates on the 
westerly side of Adams street from Mr. Dudley’s to the mansion 
of J. W. Brooks, as far west as the base of the hill. The marsh 
was not embraced in this tract. 

June 10, 1650, John Grenaway, millwright, conveyed his 
portion to William Daniels and Katherine, his wife, daughter 





PRECINCT INHABITANTS. 


IB 


of said Grenaway. Mr. Daniels very soon erected a house on 
the site now occupied by the house of Mr. Glover, where he 
kept a tavern for many years. South of this lot and on the 
east side of Adams street, with the exception of a small tract, 
-was the grant of fifty-eight acres to Nehemiah Bourne. This 
includes the estates of R. B. Forbes, R. S. Watson, and H. P. 
Kidder ; the latter perhaps only in part. 

On the westerly side of Adams street, directly opposite the 
land of Mr. Bourne, was located the grant of Richard 'Collieot 
of fifty-six acres ; this was sold in 1682 to Benjamin Babcock; 
was afterwards known as the Pratt farm, and now belongs to 
the Brooks, Forbes, and Lovering estates. South of the Bourne 
grant, and on the east side of the street, was the tract of fourteen 
acres granted to Bray Wilkins. This includes a small part of 
Mr. Kidder’s land, and the estates of Babcock and Hinckley. 

Between this and the brook, on the easterly side, were two 
small tracts, on which once stood three very ancient houses, 
which may have belonged to Nicholas Ellen, Anthony Newton, 
and William Salsbury, who were ship-builders and are known 
to have lived near the place of building, at the mouth of Gul¬ 
liver’s creek, where small vessels or boats were built at a very 
early date. 

On the other side of the street, opposite the Bray Wilkins 
lot and adjoining the Collieot land, was the grant of John 
Holman of forty-three acres, embracing the old Holman and 
Governor Belcher estate, now belonging to Mrs. Payson and 
others. 

Lying between the Collieot lot and the Braintree line was 
another tract of sixty-two acres, also the property of Sergeant 
Collieot; and abutting the land of John Holman, and extend¬ 
ing thence to the Braintree line, was a second tract of seventy- 
five acres, belonging to Ensign Holman. Beyond the land of 
Richard Collieot, south-westerly, was land of Richard Mather, 
and adjoining this and John Holman’s land was the grant of 
Henry Wolcott. South of Gulliver’s creek, or, as styled in an 
old deed of 1652, “Uncaty Brook,” commenced the section 
purchased by William Hutchinson, occupying the south-easterly 
corner of the town, adjoining his grant in the “ Great Lott,” 
Braintree. The Hutchinson lot includes the whole of that por¬ 
tion of East Milton on the east side of Adams street, and a 
part of the estates on the west side. 

The grant of “The Worshipful John Glover” was located 
west of Milton Hill, bounded easterly by Ruggles lane and 
School street, and northerly by the brook; it extended west as 


14 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


far as the wall of Charles Breck, east of his house, and then 
south to the central line of the town, and most likely farther, 
embracing a wide territory of one hundred and seventy-six 
acres. He built a house near the brook, on Canton avenue, 
not far from the wool-shops, and placed Nicholas Wood, who 
came over with him from the old country, in charge of his farm. 
The guide-boards, at the junction of Canton avenue and Brook 
road, stand on the site of his house. Here Mr. Wood lived 
until July 13, 1654, when the farm was sold by the heirs of 
Mr. Glover to Robert Vose. 

Robert Badcock’s claim, or purchase, was between the brook 
bearing his name and the Neponset river, a tract of one hun¬ 
dred and seven acres. In 1670 he added to his estate by pur¬ 
chasing of Teague Crehore a tract of land west of his own, and 
in 1671 by a subsequent purchase of Nathaniel Duncan. 

Thomas Lewis owned a tract of sixteen acres, situated in 
the bend of the brook, on the north side, embracing a part of 
the Ruggles and Davis estates, and the land now occupied by 
the wool-shops. 

Andrew Pitcher held one hundred and twenty-two acres of 
land, extending from the Neponset to the parallel line. It prob¬ 
ably embraced the land on which the churches and town hall 
stand, having for its westerly boundary the wall east of the 
Centre school-house, and stretching in a straight line, at nearly 
right angles with Canton avenue, to Mattapan. Mr. Pitcher’s 
house was the old house which stood where the academy house 
now stands; there he died, in February, 1661. 


MINISTERIAL LANDS. 

Adjoining the Pitcher lot four hundred acres of land were set 
apart and laid out for the use and maintenance of the ministry. 
16, (11,) 1659. This land was all within the limits of Milton, 


1 LAYING OUT OF THE COMMON LANDS. 

Whereas Deacon John Wiswall, Deacon John Capen, William Sumner, Robert Vose 
and William Robinson were chosen a committee for y e laying out of y° common lands 
as by Town order doe appear bearing date y° 16 (ii) 1659. In order hereunto, the com¬ 
mittee here-above-said, met on y e 30 of y e (1) 1660 and did conclude that y e 400 acres of 
land for the ministry shall be first taken up next without Goodman Vose’s field in the 
plaine in that range next Neponsit River. 'Also that there shall be a highway of four 
rods broade between the two ranges; and the way to begin at the parallel line between 
the ends of the 13 and 14 lotts of the former divisions; also it is agreed that the first lot 
shall begin next without the 400 acres, and soe to multiply as far as that range shall 
extend. And then to come back again to the outside of the 13th lot, and soe to multiply 
towards the Blue Hill. Also it is concluded that there shall be a way of 2 rods wide to 
go from the Town over the river, about the ox-pen where may be most convenient, and 
soe to go along cros over y e 400 acres, and all the other lots in the range by the river, to 



ALLOTMENT OF THE SIXTH DIVISION. 


15 


extending from the parallel line on Canton avenue to the 
Neponset river. It is supposed to he hounded southerly by 
the parallel line, or Canton avenue, from the east wall of the 
Centre School lot, to Pine Tree brook; westerly by a line at 
right angles with the parallel line, extending from the Pine 
Tree brook to the river, and dividing the estates of James M. 
Robbins and Amor L. Hollingsworth; northerly by the river; 
and easterly by a line at right angles with the parallel line, ex¬ 
tending from the south-east corner of the Centre School lot, or 
thereabouts, to the river. 

Several changes were made in the ministerial lot soon after 
it was laid out. 

April 9, 1705. Thomas Yose received a portion of this lot in 
exchange for land on his own estate. When the road was deter¬ 
mined upon from the ox-pen to Mattapan bridge, in 1732, through 
this land, the “ Trott Pasture ” may have been exchanged for 
the church land thus taken. 

After the establishment of the town of Milton half of the 
ministerial land was appropriated to this town. As Milton 
gave the preference to the part nearest Braintree, two hundred 
acres were set off from the south-easterly part of the land as 
the ministerial land of Milton, July 10, 1663. The length of 
time that has elapsed, and the changes that have occurred, tend 
to make the exact boundaries of the church lot somewhat 
obscure, while the general territory and lines are well known. 

Milton has disposed of all her portion, and the dwellings of 
her citizens cover the Canton-avenue front of this land. The 
church of Dorchester still owns about sixty acres of her por¬ 
tion, fronting on Blue Hill avenue. 


ALLOTMENT OF THE SIXTH DIVISION. 

All the rest of the territory belonging to Dorchester, south 
of the Neponset river, as far as the present easterly boundary 
of Canton, or the Blue Hill meadows, and known as the Sixth 
Division, was, in 1660, divided by metes and bounds into two 
ranges, and apportioned to the inhabitants of Dorchester, who 
held lots in the First Division. This allotment was governed 
by the amount each proprietor paid into the company, or by 
the taxable property of each. 

be determined by the Select men [or such as they shall select for that end] where it shall 
ly tor the conveniency of it to run up to the fresh meadows. Also that there shall be a 
way of a rod and a half broad between the 400 acres and the first lot for to come into 
le " reat highway between the ranges. — Record of Proprietors of Dorchester, 
r 01 . 2, p. 58. 




16 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


PARALLEL LINES. 

The area was made ready for this partition in the following 
manner [as shown on the map] : — 

At that time the boundary between Braintree and Dorches¬ 
ter commenced at Woodcock Hill and ran in a straight line to 
the top of great Blue Hill. Midway between this boundary 
and the river, and parallel with it, a central line was drawn 
longitudinally, from the south-westerly slope of Milton Hill on 
the east, to the fresh meadows or Canton line on the west, 
dividing the whole territory between the river and Braintree 
into two ranges ; this was called the central parallel line. After 
the town of Milton was incorporated, the road now known as 
Canton avenue was laid out on this central parallel line, from 
Atherton Tavern to the residence of Mr. Charles Breck, taking 
the parallel line as the central line of the road. 

This line is now easily traced from Atherton Tavern, westerly 
by the walls, and easterly from Mr. Breck’s as far as Milton 
Hill. Milton Hill and East Milton had already been disposed 
of by prior grants, and were not included in this subdivision. 

At right angles, or nearly so, with this central parallel line, 
lines were drawn to the river parallel with each other, inclosing 
more or less territory, according to the claims of each com¬ 
moner. 

In som6 cases these lines were so near together as to make 
a very long and narrow strip of land; in other cases so far 
apart as to inclose several hundred acres. In the same manner 
the territory of the second range, lying between the central 
parallel line and the line marking the Braintree boundary, was 
subdivided by lines at right angles with the same, and thus the 
whole of this district was owned by the commoners of Dor¬ 
chester before Milton was incorporated. 

North-westerly of the central parallel line the division began 
at the westerly boundary of the ministerial land on the line 
which now separates the estates of J. M. Robbins and A. L. 
Hollingsworth, and ran westerly to Blue Hill meadows; south¬ 
easterly of the central line the division began at the outside of 
the thirteenth lot, next the lot of Samuel Rigby, or nearly op¬ 
posite the Pound, and ran westerly to the Canton line. 

The following table gives the names of those who drew these 
lands and the amount of each : — 


















ALLOTMENT OF THE SIXTH DIVISION 


17 



N. W. of Central Line. 




S. E. of Central Line. 


No. 


A. 

Qr. Rd. 

No. 


A. 

Qr. Rd. 

1 

Thomas Trott, 

10 

1 

10 

30 

Samuel Rigby, 

87 

0 12 

2 

George Procter, 

25 

2 

24 

31 

Edward Breck, 

30 

1 6 

3 

John Cornell, 

23 

1 

0 

32 

Mr. Ting, 

23 

2 32 

4 

Widow Turner, 

11 

1 28 

33 

John Moseley, 

21 

0 24 

5 

Richard Baker, 

48 

1 

8 

34 

Thos. Tileston, 

16 

2 12 

6 

Robert Pearse, 

18 

0 

12 

35 

James Blake, 

57 

1 20 

7 

Abraham Howe, 

24 

3 

0 

36 

John Hill, Sr., 

17 

1 13 

8 

Widow Farnsworth, 

32 

2 

32 

37 

Israel Stoughton, 

456 

3 12 

9 

Elder H. Withington 

60 

1 

20 

38 

Lieut. Clapp, 

43 

3 38 

10 

Mrs. Fenno, 

68 

3 

0 

39 

Richard Collicot, 

41 

3 28 

11 

William Sumner, 

61 

3 

14 

40 

Jasper Bush, 

17 

3 22 

12 

Nathaniel Duncan, 

78 

3 

0 

41 

Jacob Hewins, 

17 

1 36 

13 

Augustin Clement, 

19 

2 

6 

42 

Widdow Dickerman, 

22 

1 22 

14 

Wm. Minot, 

52 

2 

0 


'Richard Wright, half 



15 

Bray Wilkins, 

17 

2 

32 

48 J 

' of Thomas Lombard 



16 

Henry Butler, 

48 

0 

3 

( 

' and Thomas Millet, 

47 

2 2 

17 

Lawrence Smith, 

10 

0 

0 

44 

Wm. Blake, Sr., 

30 

0 0 

18 

Nathaniel Patten, 

33 

3 

0 

45 

Mr. Mather, 

72 

0 0 

19 

Mr. Robert Howard, 

61 

0 32 

46 

Major Atherton, 

102 

1 20 

20 

Wm. Blake, jr.. 

44 

2 

3 

47 

Sam Jones, 

35 

1 06 

21 

Wm. Robbinson, 

128 

0 22 

48 

John Pearse, 

26 

1 12 

22 

Nathaniel Wales, 

25 

10 

0 

49 

Henry Way, 

15 

1 32 

23 

Samuel Wadsworth, 

10 

1 

34 

50 

Ensign Foster, 

41 

1 32 

24 

George Dyer, 

29 

2 

33 

51 

Mrs. Glover, 

50 

3 32 

25 

Wm. Daniels, 

25 

2 

36 

52 

Edward Clapp, 

28 

0 32 

26 

Richard Leeds, 

28 

2 

12 

53 

Enock Wiswall, 

43 

0 0 

27 

Thomas Andrews, 

16 

3 

20 

54 

Wm. Clark and others, 82 

0 26 

28 

Wm. Turner, 

15 

1 

24 

55 

Thos. Swift, 

41 

2 8 

29 

Nicholas Clapp, 

24 

1 

8 

56 

Capt. Edwd. Johnson 

, 23 

3 16 






57 

Clement Topliff, 

13 

2 24 






58 

Wm. Weeks, 

27 

1 20 






59 

John Fenno, 

20 

2 32 






60 

John Capen, 

120 

1 2 






61 

Wm. Pond, 

44 

0 4 






62 

James Humphreys, 

19 

2 36 






63 

John Hill, jr., 

13 

3 8 






64 

John Wiswell, 

67 

2 6 






65 

Daniel Preston, 

53 

0 34 






66 

Chind Lot, 

40 

2 12 







Common land, 

160 

0 0 


After the incorporation of Milton these lands rapidly changed 
hands. George Proctor sold to Robert Badcock and William 
Prescott; Widow Turner to George Sumner; Richard Baker to 
S. Trescott; Robert Pearse to R. Sumner; Abraham Howe to 
R. Badcock; Widow Farnsworth, Elder Withington, and Mrs. 
Fenno to Robert Tucker. These are a few of the early changes. 

The lot of Israel Stoughton, of four hundred and fifty-six 
acres, extending from Canton avenue to the old Braintree line, 







18 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


and including the estates of Col. Russell and H. J. Gilbert south 
of Canton avenue, and many other estates, together with the 
poor-house lot, which the town received as a legacy from Gov. 
Wm. Stoughton, his son, and all the land as far west as Pine 
Tree brook, was obtained by him from thirteen different owners, 
either through purchase or exchange, for the purpose of bring¬ 
ing his scattered lands into one tract. 


BIOGRAPHIC. 

Only a small portion of those whose names thus appear as 
land-owners ever became actual settlers in Milton. In most 
cases the lots were sold within a short time, and the original 
owners disappear from the records. A few made this place 
their home and the home of their children, and the identical 
lands, thus early received, have passed down in the same family 
from generation to generation, even to the present time. The 
names of all such will often appear in future pages of this history. 
Some, however, bravely met the severe toils and exacting de¬ 
mands incident to a new settlement, devoted their strength 
and lives to removing obstacles and laying foundations, and 
then passed away. Their families also have disappeared. These 
may justly claim the remembrance of those who follow them, 
even to the most distant generation. 

Richard Collicot and John Holman may be spoken of in the 
same connection. They were active and enterprising citizens. 
They were here very early, before the arrival of the Dorchester 
people, and were intimately connected with the Indians, both 
being mentioned in Pyncheon’s papers, in 1683, as collectors of 
furs. Their grants were located side by side. 

Collicot built a house on Adams street in 1634. His house 
was near the north-west corner of Adams and Centre streets. 

Twenty years ago a two-story house of great antiquity stood 
under the hill, on the corner, where the cottage now stands. 
The last occupant was Jonathan Beals. 

This may have been the identical Collicot house; but its style 
would place it rather among buildings of the second period, 
and the location so exposed and indefensible would hardly have 
been selected by the sensible Collicot. 

At that time there was not a building nor a solitary inhabi¬ 
tant south of the Neponset river. There was only a bridle 
path over Milton Hill. It is not positively known, but it is 
highly probable, that Collicot’shouse was a “garrisoned house.” 
It was used by Dorchester as a “ Guard House.” 





BIOGRAPHIC. 


19 


The only reference to the locality of this first house erected 
in Milton fixes it in this vicinity , but admits of its standing on 
the hill slightly in the rear of the mansion of Mr. Lovering on 
Centre street. 1 

There was a small house on the south-east corner of Adams 
and Pleasant streets, occupied by Mr. Bent, and a house north of 
the Crosby estate on Adams street, which was doubtless the first 
residence of John Gill. Mr. Holman built on his lot near by, 
probably in 1637. His house stood on the site now occupied 
by the mansion of Mrs. Payson. Each of them had a residence 
in Dorchester. 

Holman was often selectman of the town; he was ensign of 
the first military company in Dorchester, which gave him a 
military title through life; he was one of the first members of 
the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company; he died in 1652, 
leaving a large estate. Richard Collicot was named in the 
will as one of the overseers of his estate. His children were, 
John, born Feb. 23, 1637, and Margaret, by his first wife, who 
died. Dec. 1, 1639. By his second wife he had Thomas, born 
Aug. 6, 1641; Abigail, 1642; Samuel and Patience. Thomas 
succeeded to his father’s estate in Milton. He was an excellent 
and useful citizen, active in the church and in the town. He 
was one of the committee to extend a call to Mr. Thacher. 

Thacher’s Journal: — 

Sept. 10, 1680. Mr. Holman brought a quarter of mutton and some 
tobacco. 

Sept. 8, 1682. I was at the raising of Mr. Holman’s house. 

He had ten children, most of whom settled in Milton and 
vicinity. 

Mr. Thomas Holman, died in December, 1704. In his 
will he is represented as cordwainer; and the request is made 
that his two apprentices remain with his son Thomas until their 
time is out. There is reference in the will to his “ oldest house 
enlarged and joined to his new house.” He bequeathed to his 
eldest son, Thomas, “ one half of his new house, and one half of 
his goods; ” and ordains that none of his lands be sold to 
strangers, but the whole estate be retained in the Holman name. 
The Holman family occupied the place for nearly a hundred 
years. The Milton estate was sold to Governor Belcher about 
1730, and the Holman family removed to Bridgewater. Within 
a year the gravestones of Col. John Holman, his son John and 
wife Alice, with two children have been removed from their 


1 See Records of Proprietors of Dorchester, Lib. 2, fol. 17. 




20 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


resting-place in the old Bridgewater cemetery to a new line, 
where the whole family, before scattered, have been brought 
together. 

Collicot was selectman of Dorchester, 1637-, and 1641; was 
deputy to the Court, 1637. He was first sergeant of the artillery 
company; he acted as messenger of the Dorchester Church at 
the Cambridge Synod for the trial of Mrs. Ann Hutchinson, 
1637; he assisted at the Narragansett treaty in 1645; he engaged 
with Eliot in his work with the Indians; he had a house also in 
Boston. Sewall, in his diary, states that his mother lodged at 
Collicot’s house in Boston, 1660. Soon after he removed to 
his Unquity farm. He was trustee of Milton Church property 
in 1664, and continued his residence in Milton till a few years 
before his death, in 1686. His life was crowded with activity 
and usefulness. Sewall says: “Collicot was buried July 9, 
1686.” His gravestone is at Copp’s Hill. He had three chil¬ 
dren: Experience, born 1641; Dependance, born July 5, 1643; 
and Preserved, baptized Jan. 28, 1648. 

ROBERT BADCOCK. 

The land of Robert Badcock was situated north of the brook, 
near its junction with the Neponset; the brook at that point 
was called “ Robert Badcock’s river.” It comprised the Rug- 
glesfarm, and, by purchases from Nathaniel Duncan and Teague 
Crehore, extended westerly, on the north side of the brook, to 
Brook road. 

Jonathan Badcock, his eldest son, as late as 1699, lived in 
the Dudley house. In February of that year Thacher speaks 
of a great flood coming up to his garden bars, and carrying 
away the bridge in front of Jonathan Badcock’s house. 

Thacher’s Journal: — 

Dec. 26, 1684. This day Sergeant Badcock and Peter Lion were at my 
house to get me to go and treat with Sergeant Vose, about consenting to 
Peters marrying his daughter. 

Dec. 30. Treated with Sergeant Vose about giving his consent that 
Peter Lion should marry his daughter, but his answer was plainly negative. 

Jan. 3, 1685. I went with Sergeant Badcock to treat with Jane Vose, 
and to acquaint her that her father could not consent, whereupon we labored 
abundantly to take off her atfeetion from Peter. 

March 14, 1683. Jonathan Badcock refused to sign the petition to the 
king. 

Here were the first rising beams of the dawn of liberty. 
Thus early, twenty years after the corporate existence of the 
town, a score of your sires gave distinct testimony of the spirit 


BIOGRAPHIC. 


21 


that was in them. Two days before, Rev. Mr. Thacher, the 
leader in temporal as well as spiritual things, had received the 
customary address of submission and loyalty to His Royal 
Majesty, to be subscribed by all males sixteen years old and 
upwards. The fourteenth was training-day in Milton, a public 
holiday, when the whole town came together. Mr. Thacher was 
there and read to the town the address to His Majesty, with the 
following result: — 

Divers signed it. some would not, as J. Daniels, J. Fenno, W. Heick- 
away, Teague Crehore, Stephen Crane, Jonathan Badcock, John Jordan, 
David Himes, Edward Yose and others, so I made a speech to them, then 
took leave. 

Mr. Thacher was a strict, uncompromising royalist. A few 
of his flock, who ordinarily heard the Shepherd’s voice, restive 
under the restraints of royalty, and moved by stirrings for self- 
direction and control, refused to follow, even a century before 
the yoke was thrown off. 

John Glover sold to Robert Badcock a tract of land in 1648. 
(Suf. Deeds, L. 7, f. 215.) Robert Badcock was assessor of 
Dorchester in 1657. His son Jonathan was born 1655; 
Nathaniel, born 1657 ; Caleb, born 1660; Eben, born 1662; Han¬ 
nah, born Feb. 8, 1665; Elizabeth, born Dec. 24, 1666, married 
Henry Yose of Milton; Thankful, born Feb. 18, 1668. Robert 
died 1694; Joanna, his widow, died 1700, aged seventy-one 
years. 

Robert Badcock was the progenitor of a long line of descend¬ 
ants, extending from that early period to the present time. 
Representatives of the family have always lived in Milton, 
among whom the record shows many earnest and faithful 
citizens. 


NEHEMIAH BOURNE. 

He was the son of Robert Bourne, shipwright of Wapping ; 
born 1611; married 1632; came to America, with Thos. Haw¬ 
kins, 1638 ; located in Dorchester, and became freeman in 1641; 
went to England with Graves in 1643. He was not a resident 
of Milton, but owned a tract of land on the hill, and probably 
was interested in the early ship-building on the river. 

Mr. Bourne and his wife Hannah were members of the Dor¬ 
chester Church in 1639. He was also connected with the 
artillery company. He was with Col. Stoughton in England, 
1644, and received the commission of major in Col. Stoughton’s 
regiment under Gen. Rainsboro. At the death of Stoughton 
he returned to Boston in the ship “ Trial,” 1645, but again went 


22 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


with his wife to England in 1646, and entered the naval service, 
where he afterwards attained distinction, rising to the rank of 
rear-admiral in the “ St. Andrew,” of 64 guns, and soon after in 
command of a squadron of five frigates. His fleet, under Ad¬ 
miral Blake, met the Dutch fleet under Yan Tromp, an admiral 
of great renown, when a battle was fought, much to the disad¬ 
vantage of the Dutch. Again they met, Oct. 28, 1652, near 
the coast of Kent, the Dutch at this time under Deputy de Wit 
and Admiral de Ruiter, with the same successful issue for the 
English. 1 He obtained pardon from Charles II., and may have 
been the man mentioned in a letter of the wife of Goffe the 
regicide, in 1672. (See Mass. Hist. Col., I., 60, and IX., 268, 
3d Series.) He finally returned to Boston. Mrs. Bourne died 
in London, 1684; he died 1691. 

WILLIAM DANIELS. 

He was made freeman in 1648; he married Catherine Grenaway, 
and lived in Milton in 1650, on the estate conveyed to him by 
John Grenaway, his father-in-law. His house was situated on 
Milton Hill, where Mr. Glover’s house now stands. Mary, his 
daughter, married John Kinsley, son of Stephen Kinsley, his 
nearest neighbor, in 1670; she died in 1671. His son John 
married Dorothy Badcock, March 29,1672, daughter of George, 
who lived near by. His daughter Hannah married Ben Bad¬ 
cock, brother of Dorothy, Feb. 11, 1674. 

The names of William and John Daniels are found in the list 
of tax-payers, 1674. 

1680, Sept. 11. Young Daniels sends Mr. Thacher a quart 
of wine. 

William and his son John appear to have kept a public house. 

Thacher’s Journal: — 

Nov. 7, 1681,1 went to pray with our military company, and then went 
and dined with Sargeant Badcock and Sargeant Yose at William Daniels. 

Nov. 18. Went and dined with the selectmen at John Daniels. 

John Daniels had eleven children. Dorothy, wife of John, 
admitted to the church, June 18, 1682; Elizabeth, daughter of 
John, admitted to the church, Nov. 25, 1688; Hannah, daugh¬ 
ter of John, married George Badcock, July 14, 1715. 

The estate on Milton Hill was sold by Daniels to Provincial 
Secretary William Foye, in 1728, who removed the Daniels 
house, and erected on the site a building considered in that 
day a “ stately and elegant mansion.” 


See Hume’s Hist, of England, 1652. 



BIOGRAPHIC. 


23 


NICHOLAS ELLEN, OR ALLEN. 

But little is known of this early resident of Milton. He 
appears as witness in case of the will of John Holman, before 
the General Court in 1686, with William Salsbury and Robert 
Redman. Thacher says : “ April 9,1684,1 was sent for to visit 
Goodman Ellen, who they thought was dying.” 

Nicholas Ellen married the widow of Robert Pond, and may 
have lived in the Pond house, which was bought by Ezra Clapp, 
whose first wife was Abigail Pond, daughter of Robert; but 
his residence is supposed to have been in the east part of the 
town. His son Daniel also resided here. 

Dec. 26,1690. Small-pox at Daniel Ellen’s, in Milton. Mary, 
wife of Daniel, was admitted to the church in 1706. 

JOHN GLOYER. 

Mr. Glover came to New England in the “Mary and John.” 
He may have resided at Charlestown for a short time, but his 
name appears on the list of inhabitants at the incorporation of 
Dorchester, in 1631, according to Blake’s Annals. He brought 
over with him a great number of cattle, and the men and im¬ 
plements needful for carrying on the business of tanning, in 
accordance with the regulations of the London Company, re¬ 
quiring each member to establish some trade on his estate. 

This business he established in Dorchester, where the pits 
may be seen to this day, on Adams street, a few rods south of 
Park street near Harrison square. The members of the London 
Company were entitled to a share of two hundred acres of land 
for every fifty pounds adventured. Thus he, a member of the 
company, early located a grant at Unquity, where, on his farm 
west of Milton Hill, his cattle were kept. He was a man of 
high standing in England, being distinguished by the title of 
Mr., which meant something in those days. Johnson says of 
him: “ Mr. Glover was a man strong for the truth, a plain, 
sincere, and godly man, and of good abilities.” 

The following lines appear in the work entitled “ The Wonder 
working Providence — 

“ And Godly Glover, his rich gifts thou gavest, 

Thus thou, by means, thy flock from spoiling savest.” 

His life in Dorchester was one of unceasing activity in the 
service of the church and colony. For a period of eighteen 
years his name appears on almost every page of the records, in¬ 
dicating a variety of duties and engagements, not only in 


24 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Dorchester, hut through the colony, sufficient to exhaust the 
time and powers of any man. He has justly been termed one of 
the founders of New England. 

In the latter part of his life he removed to Boston, where 
he died, Feb. 11, 1653. The whole of his Milton estate was 
sold by his heirs to Robert Yose, July 13, 1654. In the 
deed of conveyance is the following description of a portion of 
this estate: — 

All that Dwelling House and Farm, where now Nicholas Wood dwells, 
with the Barn, Cow House, Out House, and Yards, Orchards and Gardens, 
with what fences and privileges to the said House is thereto belonging, with 
all appurtenances belonging and appertaining, with ten acres of upland and 
meadow more or less within the close, lying about the said House and 
upon which the said House standeth. 

This “ Close,” in which were the dwelling-house, buildings, 
gardens, and orchards, covering an area of ten acres, embraced 
many of the present estates on Canton avenue, near the “ wool 
works,” including, doubtless, the estates of Yose, Whitney, 
Fitzpatrick, Cunningham, Stratton, and perhaps others. 

The house here described is the old “Yose house,” the cellar 
of which was seen, till within a few years, at the junction of 
Brook road and Canton avenue, and a part of the wall of the 
barn-yard, between the brook and Yose’s lane, laid perhaps 
two centuries ago, has been removed within twenty years. 

Beside many gifts to Harvard College during his life, Mr. 
Glover left a legacy of “ five pounds a year forever as a per¬ 
petual annuity for the aid of indigent students,” the payment 
to begin at the decease of his widow, unless she was able to 
pay during her life. From the year of her decease, which 
occurred in 1670, to October, 1871, the sum of sixteen dollars 
and sixty-seven cents was paid into the treasury of Harvard 
College annually by those who inherited the estate and their 
successors. Then the college accepted the sum of (1350) three 
hundred and fifty dollars in lieu of the annuity. This sum was 
invested for the purpose of founding a scholarship, and now 
(1887) amounts to $1,244.09. This will be named the “ Glover 
Scholarship.” 


WILLIAM HUTCHINSON. 

William Hutchinson, Israel Stoughton, and John Glover were 
stockholders in the company before they left England. Edward 
Hutchinson, with his nephew, the son of William, is supposed 
to have come over with Mr. Cotton in the “ Griffin,” arriving in 
Boston, September, 1633, and the remainder of the family fol- 



BIOGRAPHIC. 


25 


lowed on the next voyage of the same ship, arriving Sept. 13, 
1634. 

The family consisted of an aged widow, with five adult chil¬ 
dren: William, the eldest, husband of the. famed Anne Hutchin¬ 
son, with his family; Richard, with his family, who did not 
accompany his brothers to New England; Samuel and Edward, 
unmarried, and a married daughter, wife of Rev. John Wheel¬ 
wright. 

The committee appointed to lay out a farm for William 
Hutchinson assigned him a portion of the Mount Wollaston 
lands, belonging to the town of Boston. 

Whereas, at a general meeting the 4th of the eleventh month, 1635, it 
was ordered that Mr. W. Coddington, Mr. W. Colburn, W. Aspinwall, 
Edmund Quincy, and J. Sampford should lay out Mr. Hutchinson a suffi¬ 
cient farm at Mount Wollaston, at their discretion. 

Now the five persons have at this day, under their hands, thus given in 
the laying out thereof, viz.: — 

They have assigned unto him five hundred acres of land lying betwixt 
Dorchester bounds and Mount Wollaston River, from the back of Mr. Cod- 
dington’s and Mr. Wilson’s farms up into the country, and if there be not 
sufficient meadow ground within this lot, to have such competent meadow 
assigned to him as shall be found most fitting for him. 

The land assigned to Mr. Hutchinson by this allotment was 
called the “ Great Lott,” the whole of which appears to have 
been “ within the precincts of Boston or Brayntree.” 

At about the same time William Hutchinson bought of Bray 
Rossiter, gent., an additional tract of land abutting the “ great 
lot ” on the west and lying within the confines of Milton. This 
constituted the “ Hutchinson land ” in East Milton. This tract 
was conveyed by his son Edward Hutchinson, and his son-in-law 
Sergeant Thomas Savage, June 12,1639, to Richard Hutchinson, 
citizen and ironmonger of London. (See Lechford’s Manuscript 
Note-Book [102].) 

A farme lying on the east side of Neponsett river bounded in on the 
east side with an high Ridge w ch is Boston Bounds on the west side with a 
freshe brooke called Unkataquassett and for the length of it to runne one 
hundred and sixty poles into the land w th all the meadow lying before it 
as it is bounded with a greate salte creeke unto the aforesaid high ridge as 
also tenne acres of meadowe or thereabout lying on the west syde of the 
aforesaid fresh brooke with one little house and one frame with all the 
timbers and appurtenances thereto belonging either falling or standinge. 
All w ch said farme and lands came unto us by purchase from William 
Hutchinson ffather of me the said Edward who purchased the same of Bray 
Rossiter gent to whome the said premisses came by purchase from the 
Indians & granted by the Court & Towne w th all rights priviledges 
commons in Necks of Land, Islands or Inlands with all other appurtenances 
thereunto belonging. 


26 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


In 1637 Anne, wife of William Hutchinson, was convicted 
of heresy, and banished from the colony, together with Rev. 
John Wheelwright, brother-in-law of William Hutchinson. 
“Mrs. Anne Hutchinson was a woman of consummate ability 
and address, for we learn that Rev. John Cotton was ensnared 
by her, while Winthrop wavered. The latter, however, became 
her bitter enemy, and pursued her with great vindictiveness. 
For a time 1 she had all Boston by the ears, and even public 
business faltered.” 

William Hutchinson, and his sons Richard and Edward, and 
fifty-five prominent members of the colony, signed a remon¬ 
strance against the sentence of banishment; in consequence of 
this they were disfranchised, and were ordered to surrender 
their arms to the public authorities. William and Edward 
removed to Rhode Island, 1638, accompanied by Aspinwall, 
Coddington, and many of the most valuable citizens of Boston, 
who laid the foundations of another colony, of which William 
was chosen ruler. Richard returned to England. 

Anthony Gulliver and Stephen Kingsley purchased, Feb. 26, 
1656, of Richard Hutchinson and Edward Hutchinson, sons 
and heirs of Richard Hutchinson of London, a large tract of 
land, bounded northerly by Gulliver creek. (Suffolk Deeds, Lib. 
3, fol. 5.) Eliakim, son of Richard, came to this country, took 
possession of a part of his father’s estate, settled in Boston, 
1668, married the daughter of Gov. Shirley, and died here, 
1718. Edward, the eldest son of William, soon left Rhode 
Island and returned to Boston, where he spent a long and use¬ 
ful life in the service of the colony. He was sent in command 
of a troop of cavalry to treat with the Indians, at Brookfield, 
in King Philip’s war, 1675, where he and his command were 
surprised, and many were killed, among whom was Capt. 
Hutchinson. Gov. Thomas Hutchinson, who owned a large 
estate on Milton Hill, a century later, was his great-grand¬ 
son. 


THOMAS LEWIS. 

Thomas Lewis appears as a member of the Dorchester Church 
in 1636. He was also a grantee of land in 1637. His grant 
was located in the bend of the brook, near the estate of Robert 
Badcock, and probably early came into the possession of Mr. 
Badcock, as his name does not appear after the year 1637. 


i Drake’s Old Landmarks. 




BIOGRAPHIC. 


27 


ANTHONY NEWTON. 

Mr. Newton was made freeman in 1671. He was one of the 
founders of Milton Church in 1678. 

Thacher’s Journal: — 

Oct. 15, 1680. Brother Newton, Mr. Swift, and Mr. Holman came as 
messengers to give me a call. 

Oct. 5, 1688. Goodman Newton and Goodman Sparr were daubing. 
(Supposed painting.) 

Mr. Newton was a shipwright, living near Gulliver’s creek. 
He died at the age of ninety, in 1704. He had a son Ephraim, 
and four daughters, baptized between 1672 and 1682. Ruth, 
wife of Ephraim, was admitted to the church in 1688. 

ANDREW PITCHER. 

Andrew Pitcher appears as grantee of land in Dorchester in 
1684. He was made freeman in 1641. In his will he names 
four sons, Samuel, John, Jonathan, and Nathaniel; and three 
daughters, Experience, baptized Sept. 25, 1642; Mary, bap¬ 
tized Nov. 25,1644; and Ruth, baptized July 25,1647. Samuel 
married Alice Craig, 1671; she died 1680. Nathaniel married 
Mary, daughter of Ezra Clapp, July 8, 1684. Experience mar¬ 
ried Joseph Ripley of Roxbury. Mary married Mr. Mills. John 
removed to Bridgewater and lived with Francis Godfrey, who 
named him in his will. Wife of John died, 1772, aged seventy- 
seven. Andrew died Feb. 19, 1661; his will bears date of 
December, 1660. 

Thacher says: “ Nov. 6, 1681, Goody Pitcher died ” (wife of 
Andrew). Nathaniel had three sons, Nathaniel, Edward, and 
Ezra. He lived in the house of his father (the old academy 
house), where he died, in 1736, aged eighty-five years. 

Thacher’s Journal: — 

Jan. 10, 1682. By the desire of Mr. Hare, I went to Nat. Pitcher’s to a 
debate between Ben. Badcock and Mr. Hare about the Quaker’s opinions. 
Sergeant Badcock moderator. 

I showed their opinions as far as we went and confuted them. 

May 11, 1682. Lydia went to Boston behind Nat. Pitcher. 

Rev. Nathaniel Pitcher of Scituate, born 1685, was the first 
son of Nathaniel, of Milton. He graduated at Harvard College 
in 1703, was ordained at Scituate, Sept. 14, 1707 (Rev. Peter 
Thacher, of Milton, giving the charge), and died among the 
people of his first and only charge, Sept. 27, 1723. John 


28 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Pitcher bequeathed property to A. Kennedy’s children in 1794. 
Mary, daughter of Edward Blake, married Pitcher. Sarah 
Pitcher married Geo. Wadsworth, 1720. 

WILLIAM SALSBURY. 

Mr. Salsbury was a ship-builder, and lived near the river. 
He was in Milton in 1652. He had four sons: William, born 
1659; Samuel, born 1666; Cornelius, born 1668; Joseph, born 
1675. 

Thacher’s Journal: — 

Nov. 25, 1680. General Thanksgiving, three and a half hours ser¬ 
vice. We had at supper Goodmen Stores, Man, Tiffany, Salsbury, Jordan, 
Henchaway and their wives, and Goody Salsbury. 

ISRAEL STOUGHTON. 

Israel Stoughton was a grand old Cromwellian soldier and 
Christian gentleman. He was born to lead and command. He 
came with the first settlers to Dorchester, in early life, possessed 
of abundant resources, which, with superior judgment and 
capacity to organize and execute, placed him at once in a com¬ 
manding position of influence and power in the town and col¬ 
ony. No sooner had he come into possession of the land south 
of the river than his vigilant eye discerned the natural advan¬ 
tages of the falls for a water-power; the timber on the banks for 
the necessary building and for spanning the stream, and the 
place for the weir below. Here he saw an opportunity to 
meet a most important need of the people, as at that time there 
was not a water-power mill in the land. 

On the 3d of November, 1633, the town granted him leave 
to erect a mill, which the First General Court, convened in 
May, 1634, in which he appeared as deputy for Dorchester, con¬ 
firmed. The mill was erected the same year, and proved of 
incalculable advantage to the whole community. Numerous 
important trusts in the colony and in the church were imposed 
on him, all of which he met with eminent fidelity and success. 

At the time of the Pequod war Col. Stoughton was elected 
by the court commander-in-chief of the colonial forces, and 
led the expedition into Connecticut. After a long and exhaust¬ 
ive march he arrived on the field of action, soon after the battle 
at Mystic Fort, and, by his judicious and well-ordered plans fol¬ 
lowing up the daring exploits of Capt. Mason, he assisted 
greatly in routing the enemy, and in nearly exterminating the 
Pequod tribe. The colonial government proclaimed a Thanks- 


BIOGRAPHIC. 


29 


giving, and Stoughton and his troops returned home in tri¬ 
umph. 

In 1643 he visited England. Mingling with the leaders of 
the revolution, he became deeply interested in the cause of 
Cromwell, whom he honored and believed in, as the friend 
of New England and the friend of her rulers. He determined 
to devote his life to this service, and, returning home, made 
ready for the enterprise. 

In 1644 he returned to London, in company with Nehemiah 
Bourne, and others who joined him from New England. He 
entered the parliamentary army as lieutenant-colonel, in the 
division of Gen. Rainsboro in Ireland; but his career of service 
was short; after two years he died at Lincoln, in 1645. A tran¬ 
script of his will lies before me as I write, dated London, July 
17, 1644, in which he mentions his sons, Israel, William, and 
John, and two daughters. 

To sonne William, I give one half of my small Library, for his en- 
courag mt to apply himself to studies, especially to the holy Scriptures vnto 
w ch they are most helpful. 

Unto Harvard College, two hundred acres of land out of my purchased 
lands on the northeast side of Naponsett about Mother Brooke, and one 
hundred acres more, I give to the same vse, out of my dues on the Blew 
Hill side, provided the town will allow it to be laid out in due opposition to 
those former two hundred, that the river only may part them,.to remain to 
the College use forever. 

At this time Harvard College was in its infancy, and de¬ 
pended for its existence largely upon contributions from in¬ 
dividuals and towns. Twenty-five years later we find the town 
of Milton contributing £14 18s. for the erection of a new build¬ 
ing. 

Israel died early. John was lost at sea 1647. William 
lived to become an eminent statesman and judge, and governor 
of the province. 


BRAY WILKINS. 

He was the son of Lord John Wilkins, of Wales. He was 
born in 1610, and died in 1702, aged ninety-two years. It is 
supposed that Wilkins came over in 1628 with Gov. Endicott. 
— (Mass. Colonial Records.) 


Sept. 6, 1638. Bray Wilkins was authorized to set up a house and keepe 
a ferry at Naponsett River, and have a penny a person, to be directed by 
Mr. Stoughton and Mr. Glover. 


30 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


This ferry was between the Granite and Neponset bridges, 
running from the ridge in Quincy (a conical strip of rising land, 
in 1886 made a part of the new boundary between Milton arid 
Quincy, distinctly seen from the Dorchester side, or from the 
cars as they pass along) to Sling point, on the opposite shore. 
Although the ferry was continued but a few years the locality 
bore the name of “ Penny Ferry ” for a long time. 

Sewall’s Diary: — 

Wed. 7, 23, 1685. I rode to Milton lecture, before lecture I went to 
Anthony Gulliver and got him to go with me to Penny Ferry to show me 
the marsh he was to buy of Mr. Gardiner. Dined at Mr. Thacher’s. 

Bray Wilkins’ land in Milton was located very near Gulli¬ 
ver’s landing, which at that time was one of the landing-places 
of the town, where timber was floated out and the small coast¬ 
ing “ shallops ” entered. This must have been a lively, stirring 
place in those days. Wilkins may have “ set up his house ” on 
his own land, or near the landing, from, which the distance to 
the ferry is short; of this, however, there is no proof. He re¬ 
moved to Salem, and in 1660, with John Gingle, his brother-in- 
law, purchased the Bellingham farm, where he passed the rest 
of his life. 

In 1692, when the witchcraft excitement prevailed at Salem, 
a sister of Joseph Putnam and aunt of the famous Gen. Israel 
Putnam, was one of the accused. She fled to the house of Bray 
Wilkins, under Will’s Hill, and found security. A neighbor of 
the descendants'of Mr. Wilkins, living in Middleton, thus writes 
respecting him: — 

Much might be said about this enterprising Welchman. He was well 
known at Salem Village for forty-two years as a pious and good citizen, 
and a firm supporter of the church and parish. Among our early settlers, 
none stand higher than this Bray Wilkins. 

Diary of Rev. Joseph Green, Danvers : — 

1702, Jan. 2. Cold. I at study. Bray Wilkins dyed, who was in 
his 92d year. He lived to a good old age, and saw his children’s children, 
and their children, and “ peace upon our little Israel.” 


INCORPORATION,\ NAME , BOUNDARIES. 


31 


CHAPTER III. 


INCORPORATION, NAME, BOUNDARIES. 

A FTER a united existence with Dorchester of thirty-two 
years, the residents on the south side of the river, having 
grown into a vigorous community of twenty five or more fami¬ 
lies, expressed a desire to set up for themselves. 

The principal reasons alleged for this separate existence 
were their remoteness from church, and deprivation of religious 
privileges. The families were scattered over a wide territory; 
some at Brush Hill, some in the central and western parts of 
Milton, but most at East Milton. The nearest church was at 
Dorchester, many miles distant. 

The river at that time was an impediment as well as a natu¬ 
ral boundary. There were fords at Mattapan and at the Lower 
Mills, and also a foot-bridge at the Lower Mills. 

CHURCH SERVICE. 

The route to church from all parts of the town could only be 
in the direction of the bridge, as there was no other passage 
over the river for those who walked. 

But no apology was available for absence from public wor¬ 
ship ; and, could we enter the humble abodes of those who lived 
here two hundred and twenty-five years ago, we might witness 
a scene similar to the following in almost every fa mi ly: — 

On Sabbath morning the whole family is astir betimes, each 
dressed in Sunday attire, in readiness for church. 

The father mounts his horse, with his wife upon a pillion be¬ 
hind him, sometimes with a child in her arms, and leads on 
towards the meeting-house, the children walking by his side if 
the weather is fair; he fords the river, they cross on the foot¬ 
bridge. 

• If it be rainy the oxen are hitched to the cart, and the whole 
family, packed into this vehicle, ford the river, and wend their 
way to the distant church. 


32 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


EARLY SETTLERS. 

The following is a near approach to a correct list of the tax¬ 
payers who lived on the south side of the river at the time of 
incorporation, and the year of their settlement here : — 


Year of 

Names. Settlement. 

Robert Badcock.1648 

Richard Collicot ........ 1634 

Henry Crane ........ 1656 

William Daniels ........ 1650 

John Fenno ......... 1660 

John Gill • . . . . . . . . . 1656 

Anthony Gulliver ........ 1646 

David Himes ........ 1659 

Daniel Homes ........ 1659 

Thomas Horton ........ 1662 

Stephen Kingsley.1656 

Anthony Newton ........ 1639 

Andrew Pitcher ........ 1650 

Robert Redman.1652 

William Salsbury . . ..1652 

George Sumner.1662 

Thomas Swift.1657 

Robert Tucker . . . . . . . 1662 

Robert Vose ........ 1654 

Thomas Vose ........ 1654 

Samuel Wadsworth ....... 1656 

Nicholas Wood, Farmer to John Glover . . . 1656 


NEW ORGANIZATION. . 

For many years prior to the establishment of the town of 
Milton, Dorchester had recognized the meagre religious privi¬ 
leges enjoyed by her citizens south of the Neponset, and had 
granted them liberty to maintain their own ministry; and, by 
reason of their having religious worship among themselves, had 
exempted them from paying a proportional part of the salary of 
Mr. Mather. 

There were still other considerations that influenced our 
fathers in seeking to become a separate township. The river- 
was a barrier between them and the more numerous residents 
on the other side. 

They were in the outskirts of the town, needing care and 












INCORPORATION, NAME , BOUNDARIES. 


33 


exposed to danger, and failed to receive the full benefits 
enjoyed by the central population and the protection of the 
central government. This arose from their position and cir¬ 
cumstances, as a natural consequence of out-residence. 

As soon as the mother-town realized the aspirations of her 
sons for a home of their own, she readily assented to the idea 
and hastened to carry it into effect, as appears from the 
following action of the town : — 

Dorchester. 5 (3) 1662. At a generall Town meeting orderly 
appointed for that end. 

It was proposed and voted whether Unquity should be a Township of 
themselves, with such limitations and agreements as in a writing by the 
committee for such purposes is drawn up. 

The vote was affirmative if the honored General Court please to give 
themselves thereunto. 

William Blake, Cleric. 

Four days after the above action of the town of Dorchester 
a committee of the residents at Unquity presented to the 
Great and General Court the following 

PETITION FOE INCORPORATION. 

To the hono 4 Gene 11 Court now Assembled att Boston, 7 th May 1662,. 
the humble petition of us who are inhabitants of that part of the Town of 
Dorchester which is situated on the south side of the Naponsett River 
commonly called Unquatiquisset. 

Humbly showeth That ffor as much as it hath pleased God for to cast the 
bounds of o r habitations in the more remote parts of Dorchester Town; as 
that we stand in a more remote capacitie unto a constant and comfortable 
attendance upon such adminstrations as doe respect sivill and ecclesiastical 
communion in the Town and Church of Dorchester. 

And though indeed amongst all the inconveniences which we have 
hitherto sustained by this our uncomfortable disjunction from our brethren 
and neighbors, there is none more grievously afflictive unto our souls than 
that restraint which we have lived under, as to a constant attendance unto 
that Ministry, under the powerful and plentiful dispensation of which, we 
have, some of us, lived a great part of our lives, and would desire still, 
(if it were the will of God) untill we dy, upon which we have heretofore, 
(as we have opportunity) we shall still attend. 

Yet notwithstanding, the difficulties and almost impossibiltyes of the 
constant attendance of us and our familyes have compelled not only our 
selves but also y e Towne of Dorchester to acknowledge some necessity of 
providing and settling a public ministry amongst our selves. 

And to. that purpose, y e Towne of Dorchester (divers years since) 
granted us liberty, by our own contribution to maintayne our own 
Ministry, but we finding by experience that the orderly managing of 
such an Affair as Settlement hath some dependence upon the exercise of 
Civil power, unto the effectual exercise of which [as to the attaynement 
of such an end], we find ourselves altogether out of a capacity as now we 
stand, therefore we have obtayned from the Towne of Dorchester by a 
second graunt liberty to become a Township of our selves. 


34 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


A coppie of which graunt we here withall present to the view of the 
honorable Court. 

Our humble petition to this honorable Court therefore is That [if accord¬ 
ing to y e terms and tenor of this graunt you shall in your wisdom judge us 
capable of being a Township] you would please by your authorise to 
confirm the sd. graunt unto us. 

And it being a more than ordinarie juncture of affairs with us as to our 
present settlement, we do also humbly crave our freedom from Country 
rates according to the accustomed graunt to new Plantations, we being, 
[by reason of our slowness and the straight limitts of our place as 
unable ffor public affayres as if we were a new Plantation.] 

This our humble petition is. 

If it shall bee by this honored Court accepted, wee hope wee shall doe 
what in us lyes to manage affayres in our communitie according to the 
laws of God and this Government, our present design beeing the promo¬ 
tion of the publique weale, which, that it may be the period of yo r con¬ 
sultations — 

so pray your humble petitioners 

Stephen Kingsley. 
Robert Vose. 

John Gill. 

In the names of all the rest of the inhabitants. 


ACTION OF THE GENERAL COURT. 


The deputyes think meet to graunt this petition, viz. so far as it con¬ 
cerns y e Township — but do not think meet to exempt them from rates. 
With reference to y e consent of y e Honorable Magistrates hereto. 

William Torrey, 
Cleric. 


Consented to by the Magistrates. 


Edw. Rawson, 

Secretary. 


By this action of the General Court that portion of Dorches¬ 
ter situated on the south side of the Neponset, and lying between 
the river and Braintree, and extending from the river and marsh 
to the extreme part of the Blue Hills, was set off into a distinct 
municipality, which, at the request of the citizens, received the 
name of MILTON. 


SIGNIFICATION OF UNQIJITY-QUISSET. 

Hitherto, and from the first settlement, this section of Dor¬ 
chester had borne the old Indian name of Unquity-quisset. 
This, like all Indian names, was spelled in many different 
ways. We meet it as Unquatiquesset, Unkata-quaessett, 
Unkety-quissitt, Unquety-quisset, Uncataquisset, also Uncatie, 
Unquatie, Unquity, and Unquety. 

For the purpose of ascertaining the Indian signification of 
this name, I applied, as in the case of “ Massachusetts,” to that 




NAME OF MILTON. 


35 


undoubted Indian authority, Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull, of 
Hartford, and received the following very satisfactory reply : — 

Hartford, Dee. 9, 1883. 

Dear Dr. Teele : — 

I have been asked, at least a dozen times, for an interpretation of Unque- 
ty-quisset, or, as Thomas Lechford wrote it, in 1639, Unkata-quaessett, 
and could never analyze the word until your letter gave me the clue just 
now. 

It is plain enough, now I have seen my way to it. 

You mention “ the fall of water at the village,” and describe the locality 
as at “ the head of navigation on the river.” 

The name, which Eliot would have written Uhque-tukq-ees-et, or Weque- 
tukq-ees-et, denotes a place at the end of a small tidal-stream or creek. 

The same name occurs in Charleston, R.I. as “ Wequatuxet (andTuckset) 
brook. 

It marks the head of tidal water in a creek, river, or estuary. 

The n of the first syllable is intrusive, indicating that the vowel was 
nasalized. 

Yours sincerely, 

J. Hammond Trumbull. 


NAME OF MILTON. 

There are no data from which can be ascertained with entire 
certainty the origin of the name of this township. 

Up to the time of incorporation it was embraced within the 
limits of Dorchester, and was known by the old Indian name of 
Unquity-quisset, or, by contraction, Unquity. 

In the Colony Records, CXII., 141, appears the following 
order:— 

There having been granted to the inhabitants of Unkety quisset within 
the township of Dorchester to become a township of themselves, upon the 
motion of your inhabitants it is ordered that the said Town shall be 
called Milton. 

Passed by the deputies with consent of y e honorable magistrates present. 

William Torrey. Cleric. 

Consented to by the magistrates present. 

Ed. Rawson. Secy . 

There are several plausible theories, on either of which we 
may suppose the inhabitants may have been led to fix upon 
Milton as the name of the new town. 

First Theory. — One theory is that it was named in honor 
of John Milton, the immortal poet, who was born, Dec. 9, 1608, 
and died Nov. 8, 1675. 

In 1662 Milton was at the height of his glory. His fame 
arose not merely from his numerous and wonderful writings, 




36 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


but largely from bis civil and political position. He had es¬ 
poused the cause of Cromwell, and had become Latin Secretary 
to the Protector. 

Col. Israel Stoughton, a man of great influence in the Colony, 
who owned a large plantation on Milton Hill, joined Crom¬ 
well’s army, and became colonel in General Rainsboro’s brigade. 
Nehemiah Bourne, who owned land on Milton Hill, adjoining 
Col. Stoughton’s, accompanied him as major; and others from 
this vicinity went with him to Cromwell’s army. 

In those exciting times our fathers may have taken the 
name of one of the leading characters then high in popular 
favor as the name of the town about to be incorporated. 

Second Theory. — Another theory is that Milton took its 
name from the old mill on the Neponset. 

In 1632-3, Israel Stoughton, finding a water-fall on the Ne¬ 
ponset river, petitioned the town of Dorchester for the right 
to erect a mill. The town granted it, with the privilege of 
cutting timber on the plantation for building the mill, on con¬ 
dition that he should construct a bridge over the river. In 
1634 the General Court confirmed the grant. The mill was 
erected in 1633, on the north side of the river, a little west of 
Milton bridge, nearly on the site now occupied by the stone 
Chocolate Mill of Walter Baker; but, though standing in Dor¬ 
chester, it has always been taxed in Milton, as belonging to this 
town. 

This is believed to have been the first water-power mill 
erected on this continent. It was, consequently, a point known 
throughout the colony as a centre of public resort. 

Nov. 1634. Voted that “ a sufficient cartway be made to the mill at 
Naponset at the common chardge, if the chardge exceed not five pounds.” 

Many suppose the town was named Milton from this old 
mill. 

Third Theory. — A third theory, and by far the most probable, 
is that the town took its name from Milton in the old country. 
Such was the custom of the times. Plymouth, Weymouth, 
Dorchester, and other towns of Old England had already af¬ 
fixed their names to new towns here. 

In England and Wales there are twenty towns and parishes 1 
named Milton; and fourteen more of which Milton forms part 
of the name, as Milton-West, and Milton-Abbas. 


See Dugdale’s England and Wales. 



NAME OF MILTON. 


37 


There are two Miltons in Kent county, one situated on the 
Channel between the Isle of Sheppey and the coast of Kent, a 
place of great antiquity, and a famous seaport. The other, 
“ Milton-next-Gravesend,” situated farther up the river. 

Milton-Abbas, of Dorsetshire, is situated ten miles north-east 
of Dorchester. Its first name was Middletown, from the fact of 
its location in the centre of the county. In process of time 
the name was contracted to Milton, which name it bore for 
centuries. Here in A.D. 938, King Athelstan founded the 
famous Milton-Abbas. Immediately thereupon the town rose in 
importance ; and, in the ancient time of “Abbatial grandure ” 
was the central market of the county. 

Portions of Milton Abbey still exist, photographs of which 
are in the possession of Hon. Nathaniel F. Salford, and can be 
seen at his residence. 

In 1814 the late Hon. James M. Robbins, one of our most 
respected citizens, travelled leisurely through the whole of 
Dorsetshire. 

On approaching Milton from Dorchester he learned that a 
family bearing the name of Tucker was a numerous and in¬ 
fluential family in that section, and that many of this name 
resided in the county. John Tucker, a resident of Weymouth, 
represented the borough of Weymouth and Melcom Regis at 
Parliament twenty years in succession previous to our Revolu¬ 
tion. He recalled the fact that Robert Tucker 1 came to New 
England, sailing from Weymouth in 1635, and settled in Wassa- 
gusset, and, with others, gave to it the name of Weymouth. 


1 BIRTHPLACE OP ROBERT TUCKER. 

Subsequent investigations and researches have made it probable that Robert Tucker was 
a native of “ Milton-next-Gravesend,” in the County of Kent, which only makes more 
probable the supposition and argument that our town took its name from one of the Mil- 
tons in old England. 

In August, 1885, and again in 1887, Deacon John A. Tucker, of Milton, made successive 
trips to England for the purpose of tracing out the origin of Robert Tucker, the ancestor 
of the Milton Tuckers. He went to Dorchester and Milton, and Milton Abbey in Dorset¬ 
shire, but failed to find in the records of the Milton Church any reference to his ancestor. 

He visited the Milton in Kent, situated on the channel near the Isle of Sheppey. Here he 
found traces of the Tucker name, and was struck by the peculiar architecture of the an¬ 
cient houses with sloping rear and projecting front, so much like houses in Milton, Mass., of 
the olden times; button a careful examination of the church records, no entries of the 
Tucker name were discovered. From this place he went to “ Milton-next-Gravesend,” 
where is a very ancient church, “ erected under the patronage of the Countess of Pembroke, 
between the years 1323 & 1377,” named St. Peters and St. Pauls. At the rector’s house he 
had access to the registry of baptisms, reaching back as far as 1558, — a ponderous 
volume of parchment, bound in leather, with brass corners. Here he found the following 
entries: — 


1601 Marche 

Elizabeth ye daughter of George Tucker Gent was baptized ye five and twenty day.” 



88 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


He went from Weymouth to Gloucester, where he was the Town 
Recorder, and subsequently returned to Weymouth. 

From Weymouth he came to Milton, near the time of the 
incorporation of the town, and purchased land on “ Bresh Hill,” 
in November, 1663. 


1602 Marche 

“ Maria ye daughter of George Tucker Gent was baptized ye four and twenty day. ” 

The next entry, by a different writer, was quite difficult to make out. 

1604 

“ Robert ye sonne of George Tucker Gent one of the Burghers at this font was baptized 
ye VII of June.” 

The Robert Tucker here spoken of was doubtless the progenitor of the Milton Tuckers. 
A more extended and minute examination of the registers of this church at “ Milton- 
next-Gravesend ” might liaye settled the question; but Mr. Tucker was not able to pursue 
the examination in his visit of 1885. 

The date of Robert Tucker’s birth here recorded corresponds with the dates given in 
Doomsday. 

A more careful search of the Registry of Baptisms at this church, in 1887, brought to 
light the baptism of John in 1599, and of Henry in 1612, thus making this record identi¬ 
cal with the Harliean manuscripts, and establishing the fact that the Robert Tucker here 
spoken of was the son of George Tucker, 2d, and his second wife, Maria Darrett. 

The Harliean manuscripts omit the birth of daughters. 

“ HARLIEAN MANUSCRIPTS.” 

“ Reports of the visitations — County of Kent in 1619, 1620, 1621 — Harliean 1106.” 

“ Willielmus Tucker of Thornley, County of Devon, m. Jona Ashe — had sons George, 
Thomas, John. 

“ George Tucker [ii m. Maria Hunter of Gaunte and had five sons, George, [2] Nich¬ 
olas, Tobias, Mansfield and Daniel.” 

“George Tucker [2] m. first Elizabeth dau. of Francis Stoughton and had son George 
[3] born say 1395. He second Maria Darrett and had three sons: John born abt. 
1599, — Robert born 1604 and Henry born 1612.” 

Daniel Tucker, presumed office under Bartholomew Gosnold in 1602, gave his name to 
“ Tucker’s Terror,” on Cape Cod, and was probably with Gosnold in 1608. Being uncle of 
John, Robert, and Henry, sons of George [2], he may have induced his nephews to come 
to this country. John was the progenitor of the Newbury Tuckers; Robert of the Milton 
Tuckers; and Heniy was, perhaps, the Henry Tucker of Bermuda, 1662. 

GEORGE TUCKER OP “ MILTON—NEXT—GRAVE SEND. ” 

George Tucker the first was a man of note in the ancient “ Milton-next-Gravesend.” In 
the history of Gravesend donated to our Public Library by H. A. Whitney, pp. 83, is given 
an account of the controversy in regard to the advowson of the Milton Manor: “ The 

Manor descended to Sir Thomas son of Sir Henry Wyatt and he, in 1540, demised the same, 
with the two turns in the advowson annexed, to Henry VIII. But when Queen Elizabeth, 
in 1572, conveyed the Manor to George Tucker, no notice was taken of the advowson. ” 

The first charter of the Incorporation of the Towns and Parishes of Gravesend and Mil- 
ton was given July 22. 1562, in the fourth year of Queen Elizabeth, and there were ten 
Jurats appointed of whom George Tucker was the second, (pp. 189.) 

A second charter was given June 5,1568; of the 12 Jurats, George Tucker was the fourth. 

In 1572-3, Sept. 3. Of the twelve principal inhabitants of Gravesend and Milton, George 
Tucker is mentioned as third. 

In 1634 a third charter was given, and Henry Tucker, supposed youngest brother of 
Robert, was the fifth of the twelve Jurats. 

In 1637 the same Henry Tucker was Mayor of Gravesend and Milton. Soon after this 
the Tucker family disappears, and no further trace of it is found in the annals of “ Milton- 
next-Gravesend,” confirming the generally accepted tradition that, at about this time, the 
younger members of the family, one afteranother, emigrated to America. 

Robert Tucker of Milton died March 9 1681-2: he is spoken of by Rev. Peter Thacher 
as “ Goodman Tucker ” and often as “ old Mr. Tucker.” If he is the Robert Tucker bap¬ 
tized at “ Milton-next-Gravesend,” he would be 78 at his death. 




BOUNDARIES. 


39 


He was the first town recorder of Milton, was selectman for 
several years, and also represented the town at the General 
Court. 

The inference naturally suggested to Mr. Robbins was that 
Robert Tucker, or some of the first inhabitants, following the 
common custom of naming the towns in New England from 
their homes in Old England, gave to this town the name of 
Milton. 

The committee, appointed eight years ago to prepare a town 
seal, found this argument so natural and probable that they 
were led to adopt, as the crest of the shield on the town seal, 
a fac-simile of the north-western front of the ancient church of 
Milton Abbey, now standing in Dorsetshire, England. 

The town, by a unanimous vote, accepted the report of the 
committee, adopted the design presented as the corporate seal 
of the town, and thus gave their approval to the conclusion of 
the committee. 


BOUNDARIES. 

The geographical boundaries of the Dorchester plantation 
were not fixed until several years after the occupancy of the 
territory. 

In September, 1635, the report of a committee, previously 
appointed, on the question of boundaries was accepted, “ estab¬ 
lishing the south line of the Town, on the sea at some point in 
Quincy Bay, south of Squantum, giving a considerable portion 
of the upland and all the salt marsh on the south bank of the 
Neponset to the Town of Dorchester: an extent of ten miles 
of shore, including nearly the whole of the south-west side of 
the harbor.” 

From this and other reports we learn that the south line of 
Dorchester began at Sachem’s brook, near the site of the old 
“salt works,” and extended in a straight line to the top of 
Great Blue Hill. 

In 1636 the town of Dorchester obtained a grant of all the 
land south of the Neponset to the Blue Hills; and Sergeant 
Collicot secured from the Neponset Sagamore Kitchamakin a 
conveyance of this territory for fifty fathoms of wampum, to¬ 
gether with forty acres of land for himself, adjoining lands 
already held by him on that side of the river. 

This grant included the whole territory subsequently set off 
as Milton, excepting a portion of the south-westerly part of the 
town, purchased by individuals and annexed to Milton, and a 



40 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


second annexation from Braintree on the petition of several 
citizens. 


MILTON BOUNDARIES. 

The boundaries of Milton, when set off, were as follows: — 

On the north Neponset river, separating it from Dorchester, 
excepting the Grain Mill. 

On the south a straight line drawn from near the north-east 
base of Woodcock Hill (now Forbes Hill) to the top of Great 
Blue Hill, separating the town from Braintree. 

On the east the line dividing the salt marsh and upland on 
the south side of the river, as far as Sagamore creek, and thence 
by said creek and an irregular line to the corner boundary at 
Woodcock Hill, — Milton taking all the marsh, and Braintree the 
upland. 

On the west, a line drawn from the termination of the south¬ 
ern boundary on the top of Great Blue Hill in a course about 
N. 36£ W., until it strikes the Neponset river. This territory 
contained an area of about seven thousand acres. 

Fifty and ninety-two years afterwards this area was greatly 
extended by the accession of two large tracts of land on our 
southern boundary. 


BLUE HILL LANDS. 

The town of Boston owned a tract of land lying in Braintree, 
called the “Blue Hill Lands” comprising an area of three 
thousand acres. 

This whole tract, abutting the southern boundary of our town, 
was purchased by four citizens of Milton, Manassah Tucker, 
Samuel Miller, John Wadsworth, and Moses Belcher, by deed 
from the town of Boston, dated May 9, 1711. April 21, 
1713, Moses Belcher conveyed to his three associates for £385, 
by quitclaim deed, his quarter of the purchased land, and the 
whole tract was divided between Manassah Tucker, Samuel 
Miller, and John Wadsworth, December 24, 1713. 

The purchase was made by the grantees with the expectation 
that the whole tract would be annexed to their own town. 

The town of Milton 1 was equally anxious to gain this acces¬ 
sion to its territory, and petitioned the Legislature to this effect. 


1 milton’s petition. 

The humble petition of the Town of Milton — Showeth — That whereas they have lately 
with a great sum of money purchased of the Town of Boston a great tract of land con¬ 
taining about three thousand acres of land, called by the name of the “ Blue Hill Lands,” 
bounded upon Milton Line, northerly by Dorchester Land, westerly by land called Mr. 
Hully’s and easterly by Monotocot River, and whereas the tract of land is a part con¬ 
tained within the Township of Braintry, your petitioners most humbly pray the favour of 




BOUNDARIES. 


41 


Braintree 1 also presented strong claims to the land, alleging 
in remonstrance that though the best part may lie nearer Milton, 
the greater part was nearer Braintree. 

To settle the question as to jurisdiction, the whole matter 
was referred to the Great and General Court for a decision. 


this great and General Assembly to annex the same to, and make it a part of the Town¬ 
ship of Milton, to which end the said town of Milton humbly pray your Excellency and 
Honor to consider, for the following reasons : — 

That the situation of the land is some miles nearer to Milton than any other town, the 
greater or best part of it lying within a mile and a half of the Milton meeting-house. 

The poor circumstances of Milton, and the straitness of their Township is such that 
they are under great difficulties and discouragement in the discharge of the public 
charges, and this addition would very much enable and encourage them to cheerfulness 
in their public affairs. 

Whoever they are, who shall inhabit and improve these lands must of necessity attend 
public worship in Milton, it being so near, and their children also may conveniently have 
the benefit of schooling in the same Town, and cannot have it in any other Town. 

The inhabitants of said place must cart and transport their wood, hay, and other 
matters through the town, and soon get to be of some advantage as well as a burthen. 

The said Town, as is above said, have purchased it, upon which account it is most 
equitable they should have the jurisdiction who have the property ; unless any great incon¬ 
venience to the contrary, which cannot be pretended; all which and whatsoever else your 
poor petitioners have to offer, being considered by the wisdom and justice of Honorable 
Court, they humbly hope they may obtain the favour of granting their rights, which 
shall he most thankfully acknowledged by the Town. To your Excellency and Honor 
Henry Yose, Manassah Tucker, John Wadsworth, a committee in behalf of the Town. 
March 14, 1711. 

1 BRAINTREE’S REMONSTRANCE. 

To this petition the Town of Braintree made the following rejoinder: — 

“ Whereas the Petitioners say they have lately with a great sum of money purchased 
of the Town of Boston a great tract of land containing about three thousand acres 
called by the name of the Blue Hill Lands, which said tract of land the petitioners own is 
contained within the Township of Braintry, but most humbly pray the favour of the Great 
and General Court to annex the same to, and make it a part of the Township of Milton, 
for which they offer several reasons to consideration. 

“ And whereas the Petitioners say in the Preamble to their petition that they have 
lately purchased &e.” 

“ 1st The Respondents answer, that it was purchased by some few of the inhabitants 
of the Town of Milton, as private persons, and not by the Town of Milton. 

“ 2d That the greater the tract of laud is the more unreasonable it is, that the petition 
should be granted.” 

“ Their First reason, That the scituation of said land is (as they say) by some miles nearer 
to Milton than any other Town, the greater and best part of it lying within a mile and a 
half Milton Meeting-house. 

“ The Respondents answer That the matter alleged in this reason is by no means true. 
But if they had said it was nearer to Milton than any other Town except Braintree, it 
had been well enough for that purpose; the best part may ly near Milton, yet the far 
greater part of the land lies nearest Braintree. 

“ As to their second reason, The Respondents answer, That the Township of Braintree 
being lately divided into two Precints, are under as great, if not greater difficulties and 
discouragements than the Town of Milton can pretend to be. No doubt but the addition 
they pleaded for, would enable and encourage them, so it would encourage and enable 
the Respondents, if such a part of the Town of Dorchester or Milton were added to their 
Township, but believe the Great and General Court will not judge it reasonable, so have 
not yet petitioned for it. 

“ As to their third reason, the truth of which is therein asserted, depending upon the 
first which is not true, it must fall with it, but supposing it may be true with regard to 
some few particulars, it is but the common misfortune of some few private persons in all 
Towns whatsoever. 

“ As to the fourth reason, The Respondents say, admiting the matter therein contained 
to be true, yet it is but a common kindness and the Town of Milton do now pass through 
Braintree to go to the salt meadows. 

“As to the fifth reason it is answered already in the answer to the first; in the 
preamble, in part, as to what remains the Respondents cannot see the reasonableness of 



42 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


After a full hearing of the facts the Court apportioned fifteen 
hundred acres to Milton and the same amount to Braintree. 

In council, March 14, 1711. 

Upon hearing of the committees or agents for the respective towns of 
Milton and BraintreeOrdered that one half of the three thousand acres 
of purchased lands within mentioned lying on that side next to Milton 
be annexed to the Township of Milton; The rest to lye to the Township of 
Braintrey. And that Isaac Winslow and John Cushing Esq 8 , with such as 
shall be named by the Representatives, be a committee to state the Bound 
line of the division aforesaid accordingly. Mr. Winslow to appoint the 
time and give notice thereof to both said Towns, and make a report of 
their doings to this Court. 

J. Haddington, Sec'y . 

Sent down for concurrence — 

In the House of Representatives March 18, 1711. 

Read & Concurred — and Major Samuel Thaxter and Mr. William Den¬ 
ison are named to be of that committee. 

[Public Archives.] John Burrill, Speaker. 

division of blue hill lands. 

Anno Regni Annee Reginee TJndecimo. 

At a Great and General Court or Assembly for the Province of the Massa¬ 
chusetts Bay in New England, begun and held at Boston upon Wednesday 
the 28 th day of May 1712 convened by her Majesties Writts — May 30, 1712 
In Council — 

The following is the Report of the Committy appointed to divide Blue 
Hill Lands between Braintree and Milton executed by the Council and Con¬ 
curred by the Representatives of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay 
May 21 1712. 

Where as the Town of Milton hath petitioned the General Court of the 
said Province, Praying that a sertin tract of land containing about three 
thousand acres called by the name of Blue Hill Lands, bounded northerly 
on Milton town line, by them lately purchased of Boston, then lying within 
the township of Braintry might be annexed to, and be a part of the town¬ 
ship of Milton — 

Whereupon the said Court did order that the one half of the said tract of 
land should be annexed to the township of Milton, and the rest to ly to the 
town of Braintry, and that we the subscribers should be a Commity to settle 
the land line of the Division according as by the Court’s order dated March 
the 14: 1711 at large appears; therefore we the said Commity pursuant to 
the aforesaid order meet upon said tract of land on the 21 st day of May 
aforesaid, and having notified the Select Men of both towns of the time and 
place of meeting, and the Select Men of Milton being present, but the Se¬ 
lect Men of Braintry appeared not — We proceeded and surveyed said tracts 
of land, and set off the northerly half part thereof to the said Town of Mil- 
ton, and staked the dividing line between the said towns of Milton & 


it, that they who have the property should have the jurisdiction, for as much as that 
would alter the constitution of most Towns in the Province. 

“ All which with what else may appear, your respondents humbly hope this great and 
General Court will see full cause to dismiss the said petition. 

“ Edmund Quincy, John Cleverly Neamiah Hayden, Peter Adams , 

“ Committee in behalf of the Town of Braintree.’ 





BOUNDARIES, 


48 


Braintry upon the said tracts of land in manner following, that is to say: — 
Beginning at a heap of stones in the bound line of the easterly end of the 
three thousand acres of Blue Hill Lands, near to which stands a white oak 
tree which we marked with the letter M. on the northerly side and B. on the 
southerly side, and from thence we proceeded and ran a line West, and by 
South Nine degrees Southerly, and marked several trees in the line with 
letters as aforssaid, until we came to a Gray Oak tree standing near the 
cartway leading from Milton to Ponkapog by the foot of one of the Blue 
Hills, which tree we marked with the letter M. on the north side and B. on 
the south side; and from thence we ran a line West, Southwest, nine de¬ 
grees Southerly and marked several trees in the range with letters as afore¬ 
said till we came to Dorchester town line where we set up a stake with a 
heap of stones about it, and marked the said stake with the letter M. on the 
northerly side and B. on the southerly side thereof. — 

Isac Winslow 

Consented to John Cushing 

J. Dudley Samuel Thaxter 

Copy as of Record William Denison 

Examined by Isac Adington 

Secretary. [Court Records.] 


FIRST ACCESSION, 1712 . 

The Blue Hill Lands comprised what is now the south part 
of Milton and the west part of Quincy. They were bounded 
on the north by the original south line of Milton, from the 
“ Sturdy Oak ” (now marked by a granite pillar near the ter¬ 
mination of Quarry Lane) to the top of Great Blue Hill; on 
the south by Blue Hill River ; on the west by Dorchester (now 
Canton) line; and on the east by an irregular line running 
south-easterly from the sturdy oak to a point on Blue Hill River 
near the outlet of Narroway or Great Pond. 

DIVISION. 

The commissioners, in dividing these lands between Milton 
and Braintree, run a nearly straight line in a south-westerly 
direction through the tract. They began at a white-oak tree 
in the easterly line, about a mile south-south-east from the 
“ sturdy oak.” This point is now marked by the stone post at 
that corner of Milton. The line runs west-south-west nearly a 
mile to a point near Randolph avenue, where stood a gray-oak 
tree “ near the cartway leading from Milton to Ponkapog by 
the foot of one of the Blue Hills ” (now called Chicatawbut). 
Here the line bends a little more towards south-west, and thus 
continues about two miles, meeting in its course the stone 
post near the Hunt house, to the Dorchester (now Canton) line 
at a point about thirty rods south of Hillside street. The line 


44 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


is crossed by Hillside street at the stone post just east of,the 
Hunt house, and again near the Johnson house. 

The territory lying between these lines and the original south¬ 
ern boundary from Woodcock Hill to the top of Great Blue 
Hill comprises the fifteen hundred acres annexed, or one half of 
the Blue Hill lands purchased by the before-mentioned men 
of Milton. By this division all the houses now standing in Mil- 
ton, on Hillside street, west of the Thomas Hunt house, except 
the Houghton and Johnson houses, are on land then set off as 
the Braintree half of the Blue Hill lands. The Houghton house 
was built at the time of this division, and probably the John¬ 
son house. 

In 1722 Joseph Houghton conveyed to his son Ebenezer a 
tract of 150 acres of land, “ bounded southerly by Monatocut 
brook or river; westerly by Benjamin Crane ; northerly by 
Milton and Braintree old line; and easterly by Nathaniel 
Houghton. Containing by estimation 150 acres more or less 
situate in the townships of Milton and Braintree in the County 
of Suffolk; it lyeth in a tract of land lately purchased by some 
particular men of Milton of the town of Boston or of their 
agents, and it is called Blue Hill Land. This tract of land 
was formerly laid out by Mr. Thaxter in lots and this is the 
third lot in number.” 

The lots laid out by Mr. Thaxter were probably No. 1, the 
Tucker Lot, extending from Dorchester line to Silver brook; 
No. 2, the lot of Benjamin Crane ; No. 3, the Joseph Houghton 
Lot; and Lqt No. 4, the Nathaniel Houghton Lot. 

It is altogether probable that William Tucker came into pos¬ 
session of Lot No. 1 through his father Ebenezer Tucker from 
his grandfather Manassah Tucker, one of the original purchas¬ 
ers of the Blue Hill Land, and conveyed the same to his nephew, 
Ebenezer Tucker, Jr., though many suppose the house and lot 
belonged to John Puffer. Of this I have no proof. A deed 
from William Tucker, to Ebenezer Tucker, Jr., yeoman, dated 
March 12, 1754, conveys “ three fourths of a piece of land con¬ 
taining 60 acres more or less lying partly in Milton and partly 
in Braintree and bounded as follows : northwesterly by the 
road leading from Milton & Stoughton ; southwesterly by the 
boundary lines between Milton Stoughton and Braintree & 
Stoughton [formerly Dorchester], southeasterly by land of 
John Puffer, and northeasterly by a brook parting between the 
premises and land of Benjamin Crane, with the dwelling house 
and other buildings standing thereon.” 

These lands remained as a portion of Braintree until 1754, 





BOUNDARIES. 


45 


wlien. the owners united in a petition to the General Court to 
be set off to Milton. 1 

As the origin of this whole territory of eighteen hundred 
and forty acres annexed to Milton, on the south, after the 
incorporation of the town, has hitherto been involved in uncer¬ 
tainty, and the facts regarding it have been misapprehended 
and unintentionally misstated, especially with reference to this 
south-west corner, it is deemed necessary that deeds of con¬ 
veyance, petitions, remonstrances, and all authorities be given 
in full to establish the statements now set forth. 

This tract has also been carefully delineated on the Histori¬ 
cal Map, to make it plain to those who choose to investigate 
the history of this section of our town. 


1 PETITION OE PARTIES TO BE SET OEE FROM BRAINTREE TO MILTON. 

• Province of Massachusetts. 

To his Excellency William Shirley Esq. Captain General and Governour in Chief, and the 
Hon. the Council and Ho ile the House at Representatives of Boston in General Court 
assembled by adjournment March 21,1754 Humbly Sheweth 
That your petitioners Nathaniel Houghton Benjamin Crane and Ebenezer Tucker are 
inhabitants of Milton, and the said Nathaniel hath about two acres of his homestead in 
Milton, and about eighty acres in Braintree, and the said Benjamin hath about two acres 
of his homestead in Milton, and about one hundred acres in Braintree; and the said Eb¬ 
enezer Tucker hath about five acres in Milton, and about thirty acres in Braintree; and 
your petitions homesteads are so remote from the Public Worship and other meetings in 
Braintree, that in case they should settle any of Iheir children on that part of their home¬ 
steads which lye in Braintree, it would necessitate them to pay duty there without any- 
privilege, their homesteads being about eight miles from the Precinct to which they pay 
their Precinct dues, which renders it impracticable for them to attend with their families 
either at Public Worship on the Lords days or at the meetings for secular business, by which 
means they would entirely lose the privileges which necessarily ought to accompany their 
duty, and under these circumstances to be obliged to pay for the settlement of ministers in 
Braintree as your petitioners have already done for several, and for many years for their 
support, without receiving [by reason of your petitioners remoteness] the least benefit, is 
humbly apprehended to be very greivous, and if your petitioners should settle any of 
their families on that small part of their homesteads which lie in Milton, it would then 
stop their whole estates from being entitled to one vote either in Braintree or Milton for 
want of sufficient estate to qualify them, and whereas your petitioners estates are situated 
hut about three miles from Milton Meeting House, they humbly apprehend it most natu¬ 
ral for their whole homesteads to belong to Mdton. 

And your petitioner Ebenezer Houghton humbly apprehends his care to be attended 
with still greater hardships by reason, his dwelling is in Braintree, where he pays for the 
settlement of one minister after another, and for their support and all other Parish dues, 
without the least benefit accruing to him for the same, by reason of his remoteness from 
the places of public meetings both for religious worship and for secular business, he not 
remembering his being once notified to any Public Meeting, and it not being practicable for 
him with his family to attend Public Worship or other meetings, yet compelled to pay to 
Braintree though your petitioner Ebenezer Houghton with his family constantly attend 
Public Worship at Milton, Braintree being about eight miles distant from his dwelling 
house, and Milton about three miles—for all which reasons your petitioners humbly move 
your Excellencies and Ho rs compassionate consideration of their circumstances, and 
that you will be pleased to sett off the estates of your petitioners Nathaniel Houghton, 
Benjamin Crane and Ebenezer Tucker, to the town of Milton, and your petitioner Ebene¬ 
zer Houghton with his estate to Milton, or afford them such relief in the premises as in 
vour known wisdom and justice shall be thought proper, and your Petitioners as in duty , 
bound still ever pray. 

Nathaniel Houghton. Benjamin Crane. 

Ebenezer Houghton. Ebenezer Tucker. 



46 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


In the House of Representatives March 27, 1754. 

Read & Ordered that the Petitioners serve the Clerk of the Town of Brain¬ 
tree 1 with a copy of the Petition that they shew cause [if any they have] on 
the tenth day of April, if the Court be then sitting, if not on the second 
Wednesday of the next sitting of the Court, why the prayer thereof should 
not be granted. 

Sent up for Concurence, 

In Council March 27. 1754 T. Hubbard 

Read & Concurred Speaker. 

Thos. Clark 

Depty. Secry. 


In Council April 12 1754. Read again, together with the Answer of the 
Town of Braintree, and Ordered that Sylvanus Bowen Esq with such as the 
Hon ble . House shall join be a Committee to take this Petition and Answer 
under Consideration to hear the parties, and Report what they judge proper 
for this Court to do thereon. 

Sent down for Concurrence — 

In the House of Representatives April 12 1754 
Read & Concurred, and Capt. Spurr & Mr. W m . Bowdoin are joined in 
the affair. T. Hubbard 

Spkr. 


REPORT OF COMMITTEE. 


The Committee to whom was i*eferredthe Petition of Nathaniel Houghton, 
Benjamin Crane and others, having fully heard the Petitioners and one of 
the Respondants viz. M r . John Adams [one of the Selectmen of Braintree], 
on the affair, and considered the same, are of opinion that the respective 
prayers of the several Petitioners are reasonable and ought to be granted 
accordingly. Sylvanus Bowen 

per order. 


1 Braintree’s remonstrance. 

To his Excellency William Shirley Esq. Captain General in Chief, and the Hon™ e the 
Council and the House of Representatives in General Court assembled by adjournment 
March'll 1154 

Whereas Nathaniel Houghton, Benjamin Crane and Ebenezer Tucker inhabitants of 
the town of Milton, together with Ebenezer Houghton an inhabitant of the Town of 
Braintree have petitioned your Excellency the Hon ble Board and House of Representatives 
that s d Ebenezer Houghton with his estate, and the lands of s d Nathaniel Houghton 
Benjamin Crane and Ebenezer Tucker which lye in the Town of Braintree may be an¬ 
nexed to the Town of Milton. We the subscribers Selectmen of Braintree in behalf of 
and at the desire of said Town humbly beg leave to offer the following reasons why the 
prayer ol' said petitioners should not be regarded. 

First — Inasmuch as sundry of the inhabitants of the Town of Milton many years 
past, purchased a large tract of land in the Township of Braintree, and have since by or¬ 
der of this Hon ble Court had it annexed to the Town of Milton, which, if repeated, we 
humbly apprehend will be very hurtful to the town of Braintree — 

Second — The representation of distance of the Petitioners Dwelling from the place of 
Public Meeting in Braintree we humbly apprehend not to be just. For altho there is no 
Open way laid out, yet there is a beaten private way free for Persons, three or four miles 
nearer than the way referred to in said Petition. 

Third — As instances of Persons Dwelling’s being in one Town or Parish and part or 
most of their lands being in the adjacent Town or Parish are to be found in almost every 
Town of the Province; and that complying with y e desire of s d Petitioners will be at¬ 
tended with many Inconveniences particularly by encouraging to be annexed to larger and 
more Wealthy Parishes in order to pay smaller sums to the support of the Gospel, which 
we humbly conceive is the principel cause of s d Petition: 

For all which reasons it is humbly moved that your Excellency and Hon rs . would dis¬ 
miss s d Petition John Adams 

Braintree April Samuel Bass 

ye. io, 1754 Samuel Niles Junr. 



BOUNDARIES. 


47 


In Council April 17, 1854: Read and accepted, and ordered that the 
prayer of the Petition be granted; and that the whole estate of the Petition¬ 
ers mentioned in the Petition together with the family of the said Ebenezer 
Houghton be and hereby are to all Intents & Purposes annexed to and 
accounted as part of the Town of Milton. 

Sent down for Concurrence 

Thos. Clark 

Dp'v.Secry. 

In the House of Representatives April 17 1754 

Read & Concurred 

T. Hubbard Spk r . 

Consented to 

W. Shirley. 


SECOND ACCESSION, 1754 . 

This section of about three hundred and forty acres, thus an¬ 
nexed to Milton, was bounded on the north by the south line of 
the first accession; on the south by Blue Hill river; on the west 
by Dorchester (then Stoughton, now Canton) line; and on the 
east by a line commencing at the stone post on the southerly 
side of Hillside street just east of the Hunt house, and running 
in a south-easterly direction to the Blue Hill river. 

This tract contains Hoosic-Whisick or Houghton’s Pond,— 
a sheet of water beautiful in the landscape, and valuable as a 
future supply of pure water for the inhabitants of the town. 

Thus, fifty and ninety-two years after the establishment of the 
town, these lands were annexed to our southern borders. This 
explains the very irregular character of the boundary in that 
section of the town. The accession of these two tracts of land 
increased the area of the town to eight thousand eight hundred 
and forty acres. 

In 1868 a section of about four hundred acres was taken from 
the north-west corner of Milton, with land from Dedham and 
Dorchester, to form the town of Hyde Park. 

CHANGE OF BOUNDARY ON THE EAST. 

April 16, 1885, on petition of the towns of Quincy and Mil- 
ton, the boundary line between the two towns was changed and 
modified as by the following: — 

ACT OF THE LEGISLATURE. 

An Act changing the boundary line between the town of Quincy, and the 
town of Milton in Norfolk County. 

Be it enacted , etc., as follows :— 

Section 1 . The boundary line heretofore existing between the town of 
Quincy and the town of Milton is hereby changed and established as pro¬ 
vided in section two. 


48 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Sect. 2 . Commencing at a stone bound-post standing in the northerly 
line of Beale street, at a point distant two hundred and forty feet westerly 
from the south-east corner of land of N. H. Beale; thence easterly, following 
the northerly line of Beale street, a distance of four hundred and eight and 
five-tenths feet, to a stone bound-post standing in the present boundary line 
between the towns of Quincy and Milton. All the land to the south of the 
northerly line of Beale street, lying between the said stone bound-posts, is 
hereby set off from the town of Milton to the town of Quincy. Continuing 
from the last mentioned stone bound-post on Beale street, the new boun¬ 
dary line shall run north thirty-four degrees, twenty minutes west (mag¬ 
netic), following the present dividing lines between said towns, a distance 
of two thousand seven hundred and ninety-five and three-tenths feet to a 
stone bound-post; thence by the same course a distance of one thousand 
and twenty-nine and five-tenths feet to the southerly line of Squantum 
street; thence running in a northerly and easterly direction, following the 
easterly line of said ISquantum street, about seven hundred and twenty 
feet to a stone bound-post, standing on the south-easterly line of said street; 
thence running north six degrees eight minutes east (magnetic), a dis¬ 
tance of three thousand and fifty-one feet, to the north-west corner of the 
stone-wharf at Neponset river, owned by one Faulkner; thence by the 
same course to the centre of the channel of said river. All the land on the 
easterly side of said line is hereby set off from the town of Milton to the 
town of Quincy, and all land on the westerly side of said line is hereby set 
off from the town of Quincy, to the town of Milton. 

Sect. 3. This act shall take effect upon its passage. [Approved April 
16 , 1885 .] 

The change thus made is indicated on the map of Milton; by- 
comparing this with the Historical Map the land surrendered to 
Quincy and the land received from Quincy may be seen. About 
one hundred acres of mostly tide-marsh land were given to 
Quincy in exchange for about sixty acres of upland. The town 
of Milton was shortened about half a mile, but was made more 
compact, and secured a more sensible eastern boundary, which 
is now terminated at the river by the ridge, the location of Bray 
Wilkins’ Penny Ferry, 1638. By this exchange the Faulkner 
house, the Shields house, and three tenement-houses opposite 
Mr. Faulkner’s, all on Granite avenue were gained, and none lost. 

PKESENT AEEA OF MILTON. 

The surrender of four hundred acres to Hyde Park in 1868, 
and forty acres to Quincy in 1885, leaves to the town of Milton 
a present area of about eight thousand and four hundred acres. 



TOPOGRAPHIC. 


49 


CHAPTER IY. 


TOPOGRAPHIC. 

M ILTON is situated on the south side of Boston, separated 
therefrom by the Neponset river, which forms the divid¬ 
ing line between Boston and Milton for the distance of four 
miles. Before the organization of Hyde Park the river formed 
the natural boundary of the town on the north, for its entire 
length. 

The village of the Lower Mills is about six miles south of 
the State House. The extreme limit of the town in length is 
now six miles, and in breadth three and a third miles. 

The curvature of the river causes great variation in the 
width of the town. The average width does not exceed two 
and one-half miles, while five and a quarter miles is a fair 
average of its length. 

The extent of territory inclosed by these lines is about eight 
thousand and four hundred acres. 

SURFACE. 

One of the striking features of the town is the absence of 
level tracts of land. There are literally no plains in Milton. 
Little patches of level ground are found, but of limited extent. 

The surface presents to the eye the highly pleasing picture of 
a rolling country, rising to gentle elevations and sinking into 
open, breezy fields, and broad, low, green meadows, with lines 
of lofty trees shading the pathways, and forest-covered moun¬ 
tains skirting the southern boundary. 

About one-third of the township is covered with woods. 
This gives it a rural aspect, and invites the dwellers of the 
great city near by to its pleasant retreats. 

East Milton is the largest village ; next in order is the Lower 
Mills, and then Mattapan. The villages of the Lower Mills 
and Mattapan are closely allied with the citizens of Boston on 
the opposite shore of the river, forming with them mixed 
municipalities of united interests and sympathies. 

Lately the greatest increase in population has been near the 
river in the region of Central Avenue Station, where, within 


50 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


thirteen years, forty-one houses have been built, or are now in 
process of building. The first house in that section was erected 
by John Bater, in 1874, on Maple street. Now there are thir¬ 
teen houses on that street, ten on Eliot street, and seventeen on 
Central avenue; and the speedy occupation of that whole section 
so near the station and so favorable for building purposes seems 
probable. 

THE SPIRIT OE THE TOWN. 

The spirit of the town, or its peculiar characteristic, is 
revealed in the motto of the municipal seal, — 

“Deus nobis hoec otia fecit” 

“ God has afforded us this quiet, or these pleasant things,”— 
and the aim seems to be to preserve the rich gifts of the Great 
Giver in their native simplicity and attractiveness. Nature in 
her rude magnificence and quiet beauty is left ascendant. Wild 
flowers are suffered to bloom in their season along the path¬ 
ways. The woodbine and clematis mantle the walls, and fes¬ 
toon the wayside shrubs and trees. Elderberries and barberries 
give sweet flowers in Spring and graceful fruit in Fall. The 
golden rod and wild aster, with numerous wayside flowers, set 
out in bright array the roughness of nature. 

No steam or street cars come far within the area of the town, 
introducing the air of business, and disturbing the singular 
quiet. The lawyer may leave his briefs and the merchant his 
counting-room, and in half an hour’s ride from the great city 
reach a country as rural, and, in parts, almost as wild, as the 
interior of Vermont or New Hampshire. 

' SHADOWS. 

This picture, none too bright, is nevertheless shaded by the 
apparent danger, that, in the enjoyment and satisfaction of 
these pleasant homes, we may forget the duties we owe to those 
about us, and underrate the amenities of social life so necessary 
and helpful to all. 

The sparsely inhabited town, near a great city, in which all 
social, intellectual and religious wants are easily met, and the 
1 most cultured may find satisfaction, seldom attains the unity of 
feeling, the deep interest in the welfare of the community, and 
the social, intellectual and religious opportunities enjoyed by 
the village wholly dependent on its own resources for these 
demands. 

The strong city church, with its able and popular preacher, 
attracts from the country around those who may conveniently 



TOPOGRAPHIC. 


51 


attend it. The large, excellent schools draw pupils from the 
home school; lectures and various means of intellectual improve¬ 
ment, the very best, are at hand in the city; home interests 
languish; families and individuals are left to themselves; while 
the union of the whole influence and strength of the town in 
devising for its interests, social, civil, educational and religious, 
would make everything bright and beautiful, and in full har¬ 
mony with the glories of nature. 

OCCUPATION. 

In the vicinity of the river manufacturing is carried on to 
some extent. Otherwise the inhabitants are sparsely scattered 
over the town, and are engaged in various industrial pursuits. 
Most are occupied as agriculturists, supplying from their 
highly-cultivated grounds, hay, grain, fruits and vegetables for 
the excellent markets near at hand. Some furnish milk for the 
city’s demand; some are devoted to the production of green¬ 
house flowers and plants; and many, while absorbed in the 
busy marts of trade and commerce at the neighboring metropo¬ 
lis through the day, when the hours of business are over, by 
quick and easy lines of travel, reach their quiet, peaceful and 
often elegant homes, where the breezes that sweep from the 
hills bring health. 

SOIL. 

The soil is generally a deep, heavy loam, retentive of moist¬ 
ure and plant food. This quality of the soil, and the supera¬ 
bundance of stones, large and small, make its cultivation 
laborious and expensive. The farmer, who, at every ploughing, 
brings to light a fresh crop of stones, notwithstanding annual 
removal, asks with a show of impatience, “ Do stones grow ? ” 
The principle is ignored, which a moment’s reflection would 
suggest, that within these inorganic bodies every particle is at 
rest, thus excluding all inherent power of growth; and that 
growth can only be from additions to their external surface by 
incrustation or conglomeration. 

The porphyritic and syenitic rocky formations underlying 
this whole town and cropping out at different points, especially 
in the Blue Hill range, throw off boulders, which by the action 
of the elements become subdivided; these subdivisions, in turn 
reduced to finer portions by disintegration, are scattered over 
and embedded in the ground, by the gradual mouldering away 
of which a strong and healthful soil is accumulated. 

Ruskin, in referring to a region similar to our own, makes 
the following truthful observations: — 


52 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


It is remarkable how this intense purity of the country seems to influ¬ 
ence the character of its inhabitants. It is almost impossible to make a 
cottage built in a granite country look absolutely miserable. Rough it may 
be, neglected, cold, full of aspects of hardship, but it never can look foul, 
no matter how carelessly, how indolently its inhabitants may live; the 
water at their doors will not stagnate, the soil at their feet will not suffer 
itself to be trodden into slime. Do the worst they can, there will still be a 
feeling of firm ground under them and pure air about them, and an inher¬ 
ent wholesomeness which will need the misery of years to conquer. The 
inhabitants of granite countries have too, a force and healthiness of char¬ 
acter about them, abated or modified according to their other circumstances 
of life, that clearly distinguish them from the inhabitants of less pure 
districts. 


CROPS. 

The hills of Milton are moist and springy, and the meadows 
and valleys rich and well watered, suitable for all herbaceous 
crops. Grass is a staple. Two and a half or three tons of hay 
per acre is not an unusual yield on newly prepared ground. I 
have known in two well-authenticated instances, a return of 
over one hundred bushels of shelled corn per acre. The pear 
is well suited in this soil, escaping the blight; if properly cul¬ 
tivated, abundant crops of large and fair fruit may be obtained. 
Apples seldom fail to yield a biennial crop, and the canker- 
worm, though troublesome in the east part of the town, is kept 
in check by various appliances. The small fruits, especially 
strawberries, are cultivated with good success. Flowers and 
flowering plants and shrubs find a congenial soil; with but 
slight expense and care they may be made to spread their 
beauty and fragrance around our homes, and to speak, in their 
own language, and enrich the life of every passer-by. 

CLIMATE. 

The climate of Milton is changeable as in every section of 
New England. Heat and cold are sometimes extreme. The 
east winds, during the winter and long spring, laden with moist¬ 
ure direct from the ocean, and often attended by snow or 
rain, are exceedingly disagreeable and hard to bear. But these 
same rough currents coming in during the heated term of July 
and August are refreshing, and send strength and vigor through 
the system. 

Mr. Charles Breck, our veteran Town Treasurer, has for 
thirty-eight years kept a daily record of the temperature in 
Milton. From this record we learn that the extreme heat is 
about 98° above zero, and the extreme cold 15° below. The 
mean temperature varies between forty-four and fifty-one de¬ 
grees. Mr. Breck’s record is subjoined. 



TOPOGRAPHIC. 


58 


fi 


It 

P 


J7SK 

47.03 

48.37 

48.50 

48.35 

49.31 

48.00 

48.54 

47.24 

47.73 

47.54 

1 

1 

IlllsilSiS 

3 

1 

llllilllll 

O 

1 

SSSSSS'gSSS 

g 

s 

i 

llllilllll 

£ 

s 

! 

llllilllll 

1 

f 

l-s 

70.23 

70.49 

69.74 

73.15 
69.93 
74.00 
72.82 
74.41 

71.15 
69.38 


1 

66.54 

67.54 
69.06 
65.66 
66.37 
66.00 
66.00 
68.03 
63.93 
67.58 

£ 

s 

f 

llllilllll 

8 

i§ 

i 

llllilllll 

$ 

3 


. 34.56 
33.12 
38.00 
33.93 
36.50 
31.58 
33.60 
28.54 
33.62 
32.17 

1 

i 

19.46 

31.89 

30.87 

26.33 

30.33 
25.49 
22.60 

26.34 
35.00 
23.50' 

2 

£ 

i 

11111I1IS1 

S 

3 

« » 


llllilllll 

Is 


mm 


llllilllll 


§111111111 


llllilllll 


llllilllll 


llllilllll 


mmn 


iiiiiiiiii 


llllilllll 


llllilllll 


llllilllll 


llllilllll 


mmmi 


iimiiiii 


1 


i; 

— h 

l! 









































RANGE OF THERMOMETER. — Continued. 


54 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 



iiinmi 

s- 


iiiiili t | 

1 

31.61 

32.72 

28.19 

23.87 

32.91 

30.26 

31.01 

24.92 

37.85 

31.57 

s 


Illilli 

i 

illlllill 

I 

i 

40.99 

37.92 

42.80 

37.36 

44.63 

41.70 

44.76 

44.40 

i 

1HIII1111 

s 

i 

I 

1 

SSgggggS : 
SSSSSSSS : 

i 

1111111311 

S3 

II3I1I11! 

i 

« 

mmm 

§ 

g 


68.70 

70.50 

71.08 

70.06 

67.41 

70.30 

68.64 

67.60 

1 at 1P.M. 

! 

mmm 

1 


71.07 

72.82 

69.93 

72.14 

71.91 

69.88 

73.42 

71.45 

sunrise, am 

I 

mmm 

s 

£ 


63.36 

69.86 

62 48 
66.09 
70.55 
68.33 
70.40 
65.73 

67.87 

18 taken at i 

i 

55.41 

56.23 

57.70 

59.58 

57.06 

53.37 

58.43 
58.72 
58.03 

57.44 

2 

55 


62.75 

66.02 

59.01 

51.54 

57.93 

57.80 

54.92 

59.20 

62.20 

! 

46.54 

46.50 
48.14 

45.50 
44.96 
40.18 
42.69 
45.71 
47.05 
51.24 

1 

1 

i 

45.14 

48.13 

44.55 

43.79 
44.26 
45.16 
49.00 
53.65 

45.80 


1SI13111I1 

I 

! 

* 


1 

mmm 

s 

§ 

i 

ilium 

I 

1131111111 

1 
e * 


Silt 



II 


Illlllill 











































TOPOGRAPHIC. 


55 


Average of Thermometer,—Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, —for 39 years. 



YEARS. 



Winter. 

Spring. 

Summer. 

Fall. 

1849 





42.56 

68.59 

52.92 

1849-50 




31.00 

43.05 

68.66 

52.34 

1850-51 




29.09 

46.85 

68.77 

50.47 

1851-52 




26.16 

44.82 

68.27 

51.65 

1852-53 




31.92 

46.20 

68.89 

52.91 

1853-54 




26.77 

48.93 

69.33 

53.23 

1854-55 




26.72 

44.33 

68.41 

52.75 

1855-56 




26.33 

43.27 

70.37 

51.37 

1856-57 




26.06' 

42.99 

67.81 

51.92 

1857-58 




29.87 

43.37 

67.82 

50.67 

1858-59 




28.90 

47.14 

67.27 

49.21 

1859-60 




27.19 

45.77 

68.30 

51.84 

1860-61 




28.76 

44.75 

67.84 

52.01 

1861-62 




28.19 

45.83 

67.17 

53.80 

1862-63 




30.85 

43.98 

68.17 

52.41 

1863-64 




29.32 

46.01 

70.13 

49.83 

1864-65 




26.23 

46.76 

69.65 

52.91 

1865-66 




28.81 

45.77 

68.19 

52.62 

1866-67 




28.49 

44.16 

67.80 

52.05 

1867-68 




23.62 

43.75 

68.36 

48.87 

1868-69 




30.16 

44.25 

67.13 

50.07 

1869-70 




30.58 

44.07 

71.29 

53.66 

1870-71 




29.35 

49.60 

68.91 

49.34 

1871-72 




28.73 

43.87 

71.29 

51.78 

1872-73 




25.91 

45.38 

69.21 

50.31 

1873-74 




30.79 

43.37 

68.15 

52.08 

1874-75 




24.60 

44.14 

69.30 

49.18 

1875-76 




31.96 

46.72 

72.17 

50.46 

1876-77 




27.97 

47.58 

69.72 

54.17 

1877-78 




33.08 

50.17 

70.15 

54.05 

1878-79 




27.16 

47.78 

67.71 

53.88 

1879-80 




34.88 

50.77 

71.06 

51.95 

1880-81 




25.50 

47.11 

67.83 

55.04 

1881-82 




33.06 

44.16 

69.78 

53.32 

1882-83 




27.47 

44.31 

70.02 

51.49 

1883-84 




29.95 

46.25 

69.50 

54.22 

1884-85 




28.37 

44.24 

70.84 

53.49 

1885 - 86 

1886 - 87 




29.86 

28.44 

49.46 

47.10 

68.27 

53.83 














56 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


From the observations of another citizen who, since 1860, has 
made a record of all meteorological facts at 7 A.M., 2 P.M., and 9 
P.M., daily, first for the Smithsonian Institute and afterwards 
for the U. S. Signal Service, we learn that the annual average 
of rainfall and melted snow for Milton is forty-one inches. 

During the period of this record the range of the thermom¬ 
eter in Milton has often been thirty degrees and upwards, and 
in three instances forty-five degrees, within twenty-four hours. 

In the night of March 24, 1884, occurred as wonderful a 
freak of the weather as is often experienced. For a week pre¬ 
vious the daily mean temperature had been 46°. T ; Saturday 
night at 10 o’clock the thermometer indicated 48° above zero, 
and there was no change until after midnight; at six o’clock 
Sunday morning it had fallen to 12° above, with a high north¬ 
west wind, and a furious snow-storm. In six hours and per¬ 
haps less there was a fall of thirty-one degrees, aggravated by a 
driving snow-storm. This is an extravagant specimen of the 
fickleness of the Milton climate. 

Mr. Charles Breck remembers the “ Cold Friday,” Jan. 19, 
1810. The day before had been very warm and pleasant, with 
southerly winds and the thermometer at 60. Toward sunset 
was the appearance of a coming storm like a heavy thunder¬ 
shower. A little later it burst upon a part of Massachusetts 
with terrific violence, in a snow-squall, with the power and 
fury of a tornado. Desolation marked its course. The cold 
increased with great rapidity. At midnight of Thursday it was 
at zero, and in the morning of Friday 20° below, and much 
lower in many places; which, attended with the violent wind, 
rendered exposure impossible. 

LONGEVITY. 

But, notwithstanding the great and sudden variations of tem¬ 
perature, the climate seems to be conducive to health and 
longevity. The old founders of Milton generally attained to a 
ripe age: Henry Crane 82, Anthony Gulliver 87, George 
Sumner 81, Thomas Swift 82, Robert Tucker 80, Robert Vose 
82, and the children inherited the longevity of their fathers. 
To take a single family : Anthony Gulliver died at the age of 
87 years; John Gulliver, one of his descendants, had four 
children, and only four, viz.: — 


Gershom, born 

1756, 

died 1840, 

aged 

88 

Lemuel, “ 

1759, 

“ 1840, 

80 

Reuben, “ 

1762, 

“ 1860, 

U 

98J 

Rebecca, “ 

1764, 

“ 1854, 

u 

89 


WATER. 


57 


This long life in Milton comes down to the present time. In 
the registry of deaths for the decade of 1870-80 there are forty- 
six between the ages of 70 and 80, nineteen between the ages 
of 80 and 90, and three above ninety years. 

COMPENSATIONS. 

If we have long seasons of gray, dark, and stormy weather, 
we are, nevertheless, free from the violent tempests, cyclones, 
and tornadoes that visit other sections. 

The deluge does not pour through our valleys leaving de¬ 
struction and misery in its pathway. In no part of our town are 
stagnant waters, or malarial tracts, from which noxious exhala¬ 
tions arise spreading disease and death through our families. 

The configuration of the surface, the nature of the soil, the 
daily inflow of salt water from the ocean up the channels of 
the river, and often spreading over the wide expanse of marsh 
contiguous to the river, the snow upon the hills in winter, and 
the green forests in summer, with the great climatic changes, all 
tend to keep the air in motion, and are perpetual restorers of a 
salubrious atmosphere. 

If the inhabitants cower before the fierce winds and storms 
of winter, they enjoy the more the mild and balmy breezes of 
spring, the delicious atmosphere of a summer’s evening, and the 
charming weather of autumn, and the “ Indian Summer. ” 

As we are constituted one unchanging form of nature, even 
if it were a form of perfect beauty, would pail upon us. 

“ Beauty soon grows familiar to the lover, 

Fades in the eye, and palls upon the sense.” 

We would not have the skies always fair, but sometimes 
veiled in the drapery of clouds and shut out by falling showers. 

We would not have all summer; winter is welcome in its 
season, so are smiling spring and blushing autumn. If in sum¬ 
mer the trees and forests impress us with a sense of richness 
and majesty in their full foliage, in winter, when bereft of 
these green robes, we can admire their wonderful delicacy and 
beauty of structure. 


WATER. 

The supply of water is abundant, and can be obtained by 
moderate excavation in almost any locality. Running water 
through the year is found in the Neponset river, and in the little 
stream that forms a section of our south-western boundary, called 



58 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


“ Blue Hill River, ” in parts of which there is always running 
water; also in two brooks, one in the north-west part of the 
town, known as “ Pine-tree Brook; ” and in East Milton, 
“ Gulliver’s Brook, ” or as styled in the “ Records of the Pro¬ 
prietors of Dorchester,” 1652, “ Uncaty Brook,” and in Lech- 
ford’s Note-Book, 1639, “ a freshe brooke called Unkataquassett.” 
The Neponset river will he noticed in connection with the 
industries of the town. 


BLUE HILL RIVER. 

The crooked little stream called “ Blue Hill River,” Avhich 
forms the boundary of Milton on the south, separating it from 
Randolph, seems to commence at the south-west corner of the 
town, which is there marked by a red cedar post standing five 
feet high, to be seen above the water, and bearing the initials 
of the selectmen of 1883 cut on its surface. For about twenty 
rods easterly from this point, along the southerly end of the 
“ Reynolds Lot, ” it seems but a ditch of standing water, filled 
with lily-pads, from which, in August, we pulled beautiful 
pond-lilies ; it is then joined by a stream formed by the united 
waters of “ Silver Brook,” of a small stream rising just within 
the confines of Canton, and the outflow of Houghton’s pond, and 
flows easterly in a zig-zag course, with running water even in 
the dryest time. 

Silver brook rises from springs on the easterly side of Great 
Blue Hill and flows southerly across Hillside street, where the 
stone water-trough stands. Four hundred feet in its course 
from Hillside street it unites with a streamlet rising from two 
sources just within the limits of Canton and flowing easterly in 
the rear of the “ Johnson house ” and nearly parallel with the 
street. This little stream continues to flow when Silver brook, 
up to its junction with it, is dry. But after the junction the 
united stream flowing south-east across the meadows also bears 
the name of “ Silver Brook.” The outlet of Houghton’s pond 
commences just south of the boat-house; runs westerly and 
flows into Silver brook a little more than half way from Hill¬ 
side street to Blue Hill river; the course is then southerly and 
westerly, winding here and there through the swamp until it 
meets the said ditch or water-course about twenty rods from 
the south-westerly corner of the town. 

The land in this section is low and swampy, and for most of 
the year is inaccessible by reason of water. Visited in the 
early and latter parts of August, on successive years, it has 
been found dry, except the river, and a ditch along the Canton 



WATER. 


59 


boundary, which extends below the limits of Milton into 
Randolph. Here numerous runs and gullies, dry at the time, 
indicated the flow of water towards the boundary of Milton, 
forming the Blue Hill river. 

The question is often asked, where does Blue Hill river take 
its rise ? August 21, 1885, and August, 1886, no water is flow¬ 
ing from Houghton pond; all sources of supply in Canton and 
Randolph, south and west of Milton limits, are dry; the ditch 
or water-course at the foot of the Reynolds lot for twenty 
rods or more, from the corner on our south-west boundary, is 
standing water ; then it receives the water of the Canton stream 
and Silver brook, and from that point it begins to flow with a 
perceptible current in a time of unusual drought. We reply, 
therefore, Blue Hill river takes its rise from this stream in 
Canton, and Silver brook, although most of its supply, in a 
wet time, and for a large portion of the year, is from Hough¬ 
ton’s pond, and from the swamps in Randolph, Canton and 
Milton, the natural reservoir of the adjacent water-shed. 

PINE-TREE BROOK. 

Pine-tree brook is formed by the union of several small 
streams. The principal stream rises in Quincy, near the 
north-east corner of the “ Blue Hill Lands,” and runs northerly 
and westerly. Crossing Randolph avenue at the foot of the 
hill, north of the residence of Hon. David W. Tucker, and passing 
through the meadow in the rear of his house, it is joined by 
“ Cook’s Brook,” which rises east of Bear Hill in Quincy; 
before crossing Harland street Cook’s brook receives a brook, 
one branch of which rises on the north side of Hancock 
Hill, and the other near the west base of Bear Hill; these, unit¬ 
ing a short distance east of the residence of Mr. Alfred Crossman, 
flow north-easterly under Harland street to the above-men¬ 
tioned brook, then the united stream crosses Harland street and 
flows parallel with the west side of the street for nearly half a 
mile, forming the mill privilege, when it recrosses Harland 
street and flows northerly to Pine-tree bridge. After crossing 
Canton avenue, it receives-Balster’s brook from the west, and 
flows northerly parallel with Mattapan street for nearly half a 
mile, forming the ice pond in its course. It then turns north¬ 
easterly, crossing Mattapan and Thacher streets, Brook road, 
and Central avenue, and, spreading out into another ice pond, 
again runs northerly by the wool works and under Ruggles 
lane, and having traversed a course of ten miles empties into 
the Neponset, near the Central avenue bridge. 


60 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


This brook, at times, is almost a river, especially in spring, 
when fed 

“ From a thousand petty rills 

That tumble down the snowy hills.” 

In periods of great drought it ceases to flow; three times 
since 1850 it has been absolutely dry at several points in its 
course. 


PINE-TREE BROOK ON A RAMPAGE. 

One of the greatest revellings of this little stream occurred in February, 
1886, and should be noted here. Rain began to fall at 8.15 A. M., Thurs¬ 
day, Feb. 11th; the wind N.E.; the barometer unusually high; and the 
temperature just above freezing. The rain continued steadily till 10.30 
A.M., of Saturday, 13th inst.; the wind in the meantime had veered to the 
south; the barometer had fallen more than an inch, and the temperature 
had risen several degrees. During the fifty hours of storm the rainfall 
amounted to 6.13 inches. This amount was increased two inches by the 
melting of more than a foot of snow and ice then on the ground. This 
almost unprecedented amount of rain and melted snow, pouring down from 
the hills, filled the meadows and overflowed every channel of egress. The 
little pine-tree brook became a raging torrent. The bridges were insuffi¬ 
cient to carry the stream, which swept over, and rendered impassable all 
the roads in its line, in many cases undermining and destroying both bridges 
and roads. 

Thei’e has been nothing like it in the memory of the living. One hundred 
and eighty-seven years ago occurred a flood perhaps equal to this. It is 
thus referred to in the Journal of the first pastor of Milton, Rev. Peter 
Thacher: — 

Feb. 27, 1699, there was a great rain, which made a great flood and carried away 
some of the planks from the bridge befoi’e Jonathan Badcock’s house so that there 
was no passing over that way; it flowed into my garden further than the height of the 
lowest pair of l’ails. 

After the subsidence of the late flood, by somewhat careful levelling, the 
line of its height, indicated by the wash left on the land near the cellar of 
the Thacher house, appeared to bring the level of the water about a foot 
above the lowest part of his garden nearest the brook, which is there well 
defined; this might be about “ the height of the lowest pair of rails.” 

The Neponset river also overflowed its banks, and threatened the destruc¬ 
tion of the various dams along its course. At the Lower Mills, Milton vil¬ 
lage, the rise was four feet nine and a half inches above the level of the 
dam. 


balster’s BROOK. 

This takes its rise among the Bine Hills in the rear of the 
house of Mr. Daniel Denny. It flows northerly, crossing Can¬ 
ton and Blue Hill avenues, Atherton street and Williams 
avenue; then turning easterly it crosses Blue Hill avenue and 
Robbins street; and empties into Pine-tree brook. This is a 
permanent little stream, never failing, though sometimes its 



WATER. 


61 


waters are lost in the long, dry bed of Pine-tree brook. In 
the unprecedented drought of the summer of 1883 it continued 
to flow across Atherton and Robbins streets, marking its green 
course through the meadows. In the summer of 1884 it was 
dry at Atherton street, but was running at Robbins street, 
showing unfailing springs in the low land between Atherton 
street and Williams avenue, near the residence of Miss Forbes. 
Old residents say it never fails below Atherton street. 

Gulliver’s brook, or " uncaty brooke.” 

This takes its rise in the valley opposite the Milton churches 
and flows easterly, crossing Gun Hill street in the low land south 
of the -residence of J. M. Brown, Esq. Then entering Milton 
cemetery it spreads out into the pond and flows on through the 
section formerly called " Paradise,” in earlier days a famed re¬ 
sort for parties and picnics, where it is joined by a brook crossing 
the rear of Milton cemetery, and fed by springs, and runs rising 
in the bottom land near S. Brown’s house. Farther east it re¬ 
ceives another brook rising near " Churchill’s Lane,” flowing 
'with a constant stream across Mr. Dudley’s land, and Centre 
street, and forming a pond on the land of Mr. Brooks. On the 
grounds of Mrs. Payson it is fed by living springs. From this 
point the water never fails. Through the whole summer of 
drought, 1883, it sent a lively, refreshing stream across Adams 
street, with no hint of scarcity. 

“ Men may come and men may go, 

But the brook goes on forever.” 

There may be a history connected with this little stream 
which can never be written. Before the corporate existence of 
Milton its outlet was the Port of Dorchester. There are indi¬ 
cations that in earlier times it was of greater extent at its out¬ 
let, and covered more ground, especially in its upper sections, 
than in our day. It may have spread out into ponds forming 
resorts for the Indians. The excavations in the Cemetery indi¬ 
cate, by the different kinds of soil thrown out, the presence of 
standing water in places now high and dry. In one case a 
heap of clam-shells or salt-water bivalves was dug up twelve or 
fifteen inches below the surface of the ground, and various 
Indian implements have been unearthed. 

The lay of the land and the character and quality of the soil, 
in a direction from the wool works on Canton avenue, south¬ 
easterly across the sections of low land on the estates of Godfrey, 
Sigourney, Hunt, Peabody, Dudley, and Brooks, indicate the 


62 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


presence of water in earlier times ; excavations lay bare stumps 
of large trees which grew at a much lower grade than 
the present; arrow heads and other Indian relics are occasion¬ 
ally found, which are always more common on the banks and 
in the regions of flowing streams, all affording some degree of 
evidence that in the earliest times, before these shores were in¬ 
habited by our race, a part of the waters of the Neponset river, 
or of Pine-tree brook, may have had an outlet in this direction 
into Gulliver’s creek and thence to the harbor. In such a 
case Milton Hill would be an island. I am informed that Pro¬ 
fessor Agassiz, after a somewhat careful examination of this 
section, favored such a theory. 

Cunningham’s brook rises west of “ Hull’s Hill ” in the rear of 
the Bayley Mansion on Pleasant street, flows through the Cun¬ 
ningham estate and into Quincy. 

Sachem brook rises a few rods north-east of East Milton 
depot and flows through Wollaston north-easterly into Quincy 
bay. Numerous other rivulets are seen all over the town 
during the spring which are dry for most of the year. 

gooch’s pond. 

This pond, referred to in ancient documents, it is supposed 
was on the line of Randolph avenue near the house of Jeremiah 
T. Hunt. A small pond of water is now seen east of the avenue, 
which originally may have covered the low land in that region 
owned by the Hunts and Col. Peabody. It seems to have 
been partly filled up by the building of the avenue. Colonel 
Gooch came to Milton in 1740, built the Churchill house, and 
owned this land. 


asa’s pond. 

This was on the west side of Gun Hill street near the rear 
entrance to Milton Cemetery. Asa Horton lived in a house 
standing on the street where the well now appears. The pond, 
which is now flowed only in the winter, was on his land and 
took his name. The boys still speak of skating on Asa’s pond. 


piercb’s pond. 

This is situated in East Milton, a little east of Pierce street, 
very near the Quincy boundary. It is apparently fed by springs 
in the immediate vicinity. It generally affords a supply of 
water through the year. 


WATER. 


63 


HEMMENWAY POND. 

This silvery pond, called in early days “ Davenport’s Pond,” 
seems to be a basin hollowed out at the foot of that singular 
pass over which the road goes in the upper section of Canton 
avenue, always spoken of in the early records as “the ridge.” 
It spreads over an area of about two acres, forming a pleasant 
feature in the landscape and adding no little to the varied 
scenery in that part of the town. From this pond a little 
stream runs westerly, emptying into the Neponset. 

houghton’s pond, or “hoosic-whisick.” 

This pond, called by the Indians Hoosic-Whisick, is situated 
in the south-west corner of Milton. About 1690 Ralph Hough¬ 
ton removed from Lancaster to Milton and near that time 
erected the present “ Houghton house.” 

In 1754 Nathaniel Houghton, Benjamin Crane, Ebenezer 
Tucker, and Ebenezer Houghton petitioned the legislature to be 
annexed to the town of Milton from Braintree; the Houghton 
farm, with the surrounding section of about three hundred and 
forty acres, not coming within the limits of the “ Blue Hill 
Land,” annexed to Milton in 1712. The act was passed, and 
this section of three hundred and forty acres was annexed to 
Milton in 1754. From the occupancy of Mr. Houghton the 
pond took the name of “ Houghton’s Pond.” It lies imbedded 
in the high lands south of Great Blue Hill, and seems to receive 
its supply of water from springs issuing from the hills and 
coming up through the bottom, as there is no great inflow of 
water from any known and visible source, and the average 
height of the water is but little affected by flood or drought. 
In the dry summer of 1883 the pond was examined in August 
and September, and found to be about twelve inches below ordi¬ 
nary level. The water covers an area of about twenty-five 
acres when at its average fulness. The surface of the pond is 
one hundred and fifty-five feet above mean-tide; this would 
ensure a supply of water to large portions of the town by grav¬ 
itation, except Brush Hill and the neighborhood of Blue Hill 
on Canton avenue and Hillside street, and the Wadsworth 
hill, provided the elevations and measurements have been 
correctly taken. 

The westerly bank is steep, giving a depth of eleven feet of 
water fifteen feet from the shore and falling quickly to forty 
feet, which depth is retained over an area of several acres. 

The average depth of two-fifths of the pond on the westerly 
side is about twenty-eight feet. The remaining three-fifths 


64 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


easterly has an average depth of about seven feet, giving a me¬ 
dium depth over the whole surface of the pond of about fifteen 
feet. 

The pond has a clean, gravelly bottom and shores uncontam¬ 
inated by impurities. The water is clear and limpid, bright and 
pure to the taste, and pleasant to the eye. 

Careful analysis places it above many other sources of supply 
in purity. 

The date and source of the following analyses are unknown: 


Sprague’s Pond, total impurities . 

2.28 

Houghton’s Pond, “ 

2.96 

Neponset River, “ 

Cochituate, 1871, “ 

4.64 

3.20 

Croton River, N. J., “ 

4.78 

Schuylkill River, “ 

3.54 

Mystic Pond, “ 

5.68 

Horn Pond, “ 

5.40 

Jamaica Pond, “ 

3.77 


GEOLOGICAL AND MINERALOGICAL. 

The highest sections and the greatest part of the Blue Hills 
are composed of porphyry. 

Prof. Hitchcock says in his Geology of Massachusetts, page 
667: — 


The porphyry range south of Boston extends in a curvilinear direction 
from Medway and Medfield following Charles river so as to enter Natick 
and Needham, thence turning easterly through Dedham, Milton, Braintree 
and Quincy to Hingham. This is chiefly compact feldspar, especially the 
red variety. The range, it will be seen, embraces the greater part of the 
Blue Hills, the most elevated lands in the vicinity of Boston. 

The base of porphyry is compact feldspar, through which are 
disseminated crystals of feldspar of various hues,— green, pur¬ 
ple, red of every shade, light green, grey, and brownish black. 
This rock is extremely hard, and is cut and polished with diffi¬ 
culty, otherwise it might take a prominent place with our most 
elegant ornamental stones. 

Prof. A. Brongniart speaks of the vicinity south of Boston as 
a locality of porphyry, and says, “ It entirely resembles the an¬ 
tique porphyry.” 

Several years ago before the State Collection of minerals was 
removed from the State House in Boston to the Agricultural 








GEOLOGICAL AND MINERALOGICAL. 


65 


College in Amherst, Mass., I carefully examined the polished 
specimens from Milton and the Blue Hills, and noted down the 
accompanying list. I found them all very beautiful in color, 
and finished with a most brilliant polish. 


STATE COLLECTION OF SPECIMENS FROM MILTON. 


No. 352. Graywhacke Slate, reddish.Milton. 

1131. Greenstone passing into Sienite . . . . Blue Hills. 

1141. Compact Greenstone.Blue Hills. 

1213. Compact Feldspar, somewhat brecciated . . Blue Hills. 

1222. Compact Feldspar with a minute quantity of gold . Blue Hills. 

1225. Compact Feldspar, red passing into porphyry . Milton. 

1237. Porphyry and Compact Feldspar .... Milton. 

1238. Porphyry, dark green [polished] . . . . Blue Hills. 

1241. Porphyry, containing Quartz nodules [polished] . Milton. 

1242. Porphyry, light gray [polished] .... Milton. 

1245. Porphyry, lively green [polished] .... Milton. 

1258. Porphyry, reddish brown containing crystals of Feld¬ 
spar and Quartz [polished].Blue Hills. 

1261. Porphyry, variegated Feldspar and Quartz crystals 

[polished].Blue Hills. 

1260. Porphyry, base dark green crystals, Feldspar and 

Quartz [polished].Blue Hills. 

1263, Porphyry, base reddish, chiefly Quartz . . . Milton. 


In the section lying between Brush Hill road and Mattapan 
street, formerly church land, is a bed of red porphyry, some¬ 
what brecciated ; fine specimens of it may be seen in the wall 
of Mr. Amor L. Hollingsworth on Brush Hill road, and in the 
wall on Canton avenue, nearly opposite the opening of Matta¬ 
pan street. 

Within a few years a company was formed for working a 
quarry of choice porphyry, situated on the south-west side of 
Bear Hill. The land was purchased, and polished specimens of 
the stone were placed on exhibition in Boston attracting much 
favorable notice, but the work was not prosecuted. It is be¬ 
lieved that within the limits of Milton, and in the near vicinity, 
quantities of this mineral may be found rivalling in beauty the 
best antique porphyry. 


SIENITE. 

The porphyry of our hills seems to be intermediate between 
porphyry and sienite, which, under the name of granite, is the 
stone used for architectural purposes, and so extensively quar¬ 
ried in the lower range of the Blue Hills within the towns of 
Quincy and Milton. 

Sienite is composed of quartz, hornblende, and feldspar. It 




HISTORY OF MILTON. 


takes its name from Syene, a country of Upper Egypt where 
this rock prevails, from which many ancient monuments have 
been made. Sienite differs from granite in one of its compo¬ 
nent parts; the latter has mica in place of the hornblende of the 
former. The feldspar in sienite is the most abundant ingre¬ 
dient, and is generally of a bluish or grayish color; in some 
instances it is flesh-red, or lilac-red, and in others of a blood-red 
color. This gives the different shades of color to the stone and 
to the structure built from the stone. 

The working of this stone along these hills of Milton and 
more especially of Quincy affords occupation for thousands of 
laborers, and subsistence for their families, and is a source of 
wealth and prosperity in the community. The granite busi¬ 
ness of Milton is presented in the chapter on the “ Industries 
of Milton.” 


DILUVIAN FURROWS. 

At the quarry of D. G. Corliss & Co., a few years since, the 
soil was removed for a wide space from the surface of the ledge, 
for the purpose of extending the work and opening it in a new 
position. On the top of the ledge thus laid bare was found a 
large bowlder, of many tons’ weight, a stone entirely different 
from the underlying ledge of granite, the bottom of which was 
worn almost to a polish. 

On the surface of this denuded rock, which had been covered 
by the soil for unknown years, the diluvian furrows were very 
distinctly marked, running in a south-easterly course, and across 
the planes and joints of stratification. In this case the furrows 
were from one to three inches deep and wide. These furrows 
and scratches have been examined on other rocky surfaces 
within the limits of our town, and have been found in the same 
line of direction. 

In all cases observed in Milton the drift is invariably about 
north 10° west, and south 10° east, in the same direction with 
the furrows and scratches. 


BOWLDERS. 

Bowlders, or Lost Stones, of all sizes, are numerous. A large 
bowlder of conglomerate lies in the granite section, on the west 
side of Quarry lane between Pleasant street and the quarry, 
and another lies near one of the quarry buildings; while in 
the same line with these, but much farther on, in West Quincy, 
on the height of a hill of granite in the “ Quincy Lot ” lies a 
pudding-stone bowlder of immense size, which seems to have 


TOPOGRAPHIC. 


67 


been clumped from above, and in the fall to have been broken 
into sections. It is well worth a visit by the curious and by 
the scientific. An enormous bowlder, probably the largest 
isolated bowlder in this region, may be seen on the grounds of 
David W. Tucker, between his home and the opposite hills. 

BED OF BED POBPHYKY. 

In the old Dorchester church land, near Brush Hill road, is 
a bed of red porphyry, already referred to, cropping out from 
the range of porphyry underlying the town. Bowlders of this 
identical prophyry are found south-east of this bed all over the 
fields; some have been worked into the wall opposite the open¬ 
ing of Mattapan street on Canton avenue; they are seen in 
the walls at other points south and east of the bed, but none 
north or west of it. The porphyry in the wall of Mr. Hollings¬ 
worth, Brush Hill road, was taken from the vicinity of the 
original bed and conveyed to his wall. The wandering por- 
phyrytic blocks south of the church lot travelled, or were borne 
by the diluvian currents, to the points where they are found. 
Many times have I searched in Milton for the bowlders of a 
particular rock on the north or westerly side of its bed without 
success, but they are always found on the south or a little to 
the east or west. On this point Prof. Hitchcock says: — 

I have found that uniformly in order to trace bowlders to the original 
bed whence they were derived I must travel either north or north-west a 
greater or less distance. This discovery was of great use to me, and for 
the last ten years I have acted upon it very often, and never found it to fail 
in scarcely a single instance. 

The forces that have wrought these wonders I do not here 
discuss, but the evidences of them are of the deepest interest to 
the student of nature. Milton presents a most interesting field 
for such studies in the rich bowlders that lie all around, and 
especially, in the range of rocky hills over which swept the 
mighty currents furrowing the top and sides, and through 
which they may have worn out the openings that now appear. 


68 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


THE BLUE HILLS. 


“ Soft, rounded hills, that to my youthful eyes 
Stood but as Titan guards to Paradise; 

Where, all beyond, lay fields of shining bloom, 

’Mid fairy scenes bespun in fancy’s loom! 

To-day ye rise, an epitome of life, 

With all its varied shades of calm and strife; 

Soon as the morning gilds your eastern slopes 
How the quick spirit leads the buoyant hopes ! 

Then, as advancing day illumes your vales 
The hours attempered seem but happy gales, 

And all the future wears no countervails; 

But pass we now beyond the farthest crest, 

When the slant sun sinks dying on night’s breast, 

How gray the shadows fall! Which life were best?” [H. S.] 

The most prominent and attractive feature in our landscape 
is the range of the Blue Hills, which begins in Canton and 
Milton, and extends for the distance of nearly seven miles, 
trending easterly, and then north-easterly, and terminating at 
President’s Hill [called by John Adams, Monticello], opposite 
the Old Colony Railroad station in Quincy. 

The face of the country assumes new aspects from year to 
year; here is a field where once was a forest, and here is a vil¬ 
lage where once was a farm. But the great outlines change 
not; 

“ The hills, 

Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun,” 

stand unmoved and unchanged. 

In the summer of 1614 Capt. John Smith, when exploring 
our coast, shot across the mouth of Boston harbor, and caught 
sight of these hills, which he named “ Massachusetts Mount 
and when, at a later date, he got Prince Charles to scatter 
English names over his map, in place of those which Smith had 
given, that Royal Sponsor conferred “ Chevyot Hills ” on Mas¬ 
sachusetts Mount. 

From that day the hardy adventurer and the home-bound 
mariner have hailed with joy the blue shadow of these hills, 
which reveal the first signs of land on nearing this coast. The 
Indian connected with them his visionary ideas of sanctity and 
grandeur. From them he named his tribe Massachusetts, which 
means, in the Algonquin dialect, “ The people living near the 
great hills.” All their salient points and silent nooks and hid 
ing-places were familiar to his wary eye. 



THE BLUE HILLS. 


69 


GREAT BLUE HILL. 

The range rises into eleven distinct summits. The highest 
of these, called Great Blue Hill, is situated in Canton and 
Milton, and has an altitude of six hundred and thirty-five feet 
above the sea, which is the highest elevation of land in eastern 
Massachusetts. It is also believed to be the highest land on the 
Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida. Nor is there any eleva¬ 
tion so great on the Gulf coast from Florida to the Rio Grande. 

On this summit a panorama full of loveliness is spread out 
before the spectator. The elevation is sufficient to give a bird’s- 
eye view of a radius of twenty-five miles, and a circuit of one 
hundred and fifty miles. Most of the interesting features of 
the view can be seen with .the naked eye, or with an opera-glass. 
With the aid of the telescope buildings can be identified in one 
hundred and twenty-five villages. 

A mile east of Great Blue Hill is Hancock Hill, five hun¬ 
dred and seven feet high, situated in Milton. This hill was 
once owned by John Hancock. On its south side, on the farm 
now owned by Mrs. E. M. Cary, are the remains of what is 
called “ Hancock Orchard,” and on the north side Hancock’s 
hollow, or valley. In the winter of 1780, which was intensely 
cold, causing great suffering among the destitute in Boston, the 
harbor and the water approaches being frozen over, John Han¬ 
cock had a large quantity of wood cut from his lot in Milton, 
probably this hill, and sledded down the river and over the ice 
to Boston, for gratuitous distribution among the poor. 

On Friday next at 2 o’clock will be sold by Public Vendue at the house 
of the Widow Bent, Innholder in Milton, a number of Lots of Woodland 
Pasture and Orcharding lying in the town of Milton, and belonging to his 
Excellency Gov. Hancock, The above land has been lately surveyed and 
laid out in convenient Lots for the purchasers and the conditions of sale may 
be known by applying to Russell & Clap. 

[Boston Gazette, Feb. 23, 1784.] 

A part of the hill was sold by Gov. Hancock at this auction 
to Capt. Nathaniel Tucker and John Crehore, citizens of Milton. 

A mile east of Hancock Hill is Bear Hill, four hundred and 
ninety-five feet high, situated in Quincy. This might be named, 
with no little significance, Bare Hill , as it is the most barren of 
any in the range. 

Lying between Hancock and Bear hills is a hill four hun¬ 
dred and thirty-nine feet in height, which, for the purpose of 
designation, will here be called Bugbee Hill. Twenty acres 
of the northerly portion of this hill, sloping towards Hillside 
street and including the small house on the south side of Hill- 


TO 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


side street, now belong to Edmund J. Baker, of Dorchester. 
Early in the present century Mr. Bugbee, who was proprietor 
of a tavern on Warren street, Roxbury, owned the westerly 
part of this hill, and built a house in the woods three-fourths 
of a mile from Hillside street, on the old cart-path extending 
from the street over the hill. 

The spot is easily found, by taking the cart-path on the 
southerly side of Hillside street a few rods east of the Baker 
house, and keeping the right-hand path, in sight of the wall, 
until three ways appear, and then following the path on the 
left. The cleared lot of more than an acre is walled off from 
the wdlderness, and the garden is separated from the house-lot. 
Here is a well-defined cellar, 24 X 20 feet, and, a few rods north 
of the enclosure, a well full of water. Mrs. Farrington, now 
living in Milton at the age of eighty-two, says that when a little 
girl she went with her father, Thomas Hunt, to this spot when 
they were building the house. The story, with all the old 
people, is that he built in that secluded spot to secure a safe 
retreat from the British; and this would have an air of proba¬ 
bility had it been built in the time of the Revolution. It is 
suggested by one of our antiquaries that the story may be 
traced back to William Bugbee, a resident of Milton in 1776 
and before, who may have owned the hill and built there for 
safety, and that his descendant, the Bugbee of later date, may 
have been building anew on the same site, or repairing the old 
house, at the time of Mrs. Farrington’s visit. 

One mile from Bear Hill, north-easterly, is a hill five hundred 
and eighteen feet high, the second in height of the range. 
Hitherto it has borne no definite name. By some it is known 
as Swan’s Hill, by others as Fenno’s Hill. In 1800 it was 
owned by Mr. Swan, of Dorchester. Since then the successive 
owners have been Mr. Newhall, Captain Macandey, J. M. Forbes, 
D. W. Tucker, and, at the present time, Richards and others. 
On this hill are the well-defined stone foundations of a building, 
v. indicating the residence of some one now unknown. 

South-east of this hill is a smaller hill without a name, prob¬ 
ably a lower elevation of the last hill, situated nearly opposite 
the residence of Hon. David W. Tucker. On the easterly slope 
of this hill, a mile or more from Randolph avenue, Dr. Gardner, 
of Dorchester, owned a lot of fourteen acres, inherited from 
Daniel Yose. The lot was far from any road, and almost in¬ 
accessible. The Doctor complained to the Collector of Quincy 
that it was taxed too high. The Collector replied that he 
should be glad to purchase it at the assessor’s valuation, and 
the Doctor accepted the offer. After keeping it some twenty 


THE BLUE HILLS. 


71 


years the Collector sold at about the price he paid. It passed 
into other hands. In process of time a plan was made of this 
mountain land; it was laid out, on paper, into house-lots, with 
streets and squares, and all the appointments of town and city, 
and the plan was duly recorded at Dedham, where it may now 
be seen, the sole remnant of this bogus city. The swindle, if 
it was so designed, was partially successful, as several lots were 
sold to those who never saw their purchase except on paper. 
This tract was sold for taxes, in 1883, to Mr. Charles Breck, 
of Milton. 

Six other summits of the range reach four hundred feet and 
upwards. 

The openings between these summits suggest questions full 
of interest to the student of the diluvial and glacial periods. 

GREAT BLUE HILL. 

This summit, being the highest elevation in the region of 
Boston, has always been a point of interest and resort. In 
earlier times it seems to have been frequented much more than 
in our day. 

[Rev. Peter Thacker's Journal.'] “ Oct. 18, 1681. Brother Clapp and 
liis wife, brother Paul and his wife, and we, went upon Blue Hill to the 
pillar of stones, and Quartermaster [Thomas Swift] came to us there, and 
divers others; there we dined; we came home by Brush Hill, they came 
into our house and drank and smoked it.” 

On a June morning, more than forty years ago, Edward H. 
Adams, wishing to enjoy a view of the sunrise from the top of 
Great Blue Hill, started on foot from his home in East Milton; 
he reached the hill and was climbing to the top, in the gray of 
the morning, when he was startled by the tramp of horses in 
his rear. The strange hour and place gave a weird effect to 
every sight and sound. In a moment he was reassured by the 
appearance of James M. Robbins on horseback, who also was 
bound to the sunrise on the summit. After expressions of 
mutual suprise the two citizens travelled to the top in company, 
and enjoyed the glorious morning view. These sunrise visits 
were of frequent occurrence among the young people in early 
times. 

BEACONS. 

All through the Revolutionary war the top of Great Blue 
Hill was occupied by soldiery as a point of look-out, whence 
an enemy, by sea or land, could be descried. Here beacons 
were erected, and manned with forces sufficient to keep them 
in working order. 


72 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


[State Archives.] “ And it is further ordered that a Beacon be erected 
at Cape Ann, and another at Marblehead, and another beacon be erected 
on the height of Blue Hills in Milton; and the Select men or any two of 
them in any of the towns where such beacon is situated, with any two or 
more of the commissioned officers nearest the beacons, shall have the care 
of them, and when an enemys fleet is discovered, shall fire three alarm 
guns, and where there are bells in towns where such beacons are, shall 
cause them to be set a ringing, and the beacons to be fired with all expedi¬ 
tion. 

“Sent down for concurrence.” 

“John Lowell, Hep. Sec'y .” 


In the House of Representatives, April 30, 1776. 
“,Read and Concurred.” 

Samuel Freeman, Speaker .” 


“ Ordered that General Heath be and hereby is required to erect on the 
highest of the hills known by the name of the Blue Hills, such beacons or 
signals as he shall think proper; and it is ordered that said signals shall 
not be fired, until the signal be given from Beacon Hill in the Town of 
Boston, unless they have certain evidence of the approach of an enemy 
from Rhode Island.” 

“ Head Quarters, Boston, Sep. 7, 1778. 

“ I am to request the favor that you would be pleased to detach from the 
militia of Weston a capable Sergeant, Corporal and six men, for the pur¬ 
pose of attending the beacon in that Town, and a like number from the 
Town of Milton or Stoughton for that on the Great Blue Hill. Both bea¬ 
cons will be finished this day. W. Heath.” 


ILLUMINATIONS. 

The hill was illuminated on the repeal of the Stamp Act by 
the British Parliament; on the promulgation of the Declara¬ 
tion of Independence; on the surrenders of Burgoyne and 
Cornwallis ; and, many times, on special occasions. 

“ When Philip raged with tomahawk and brand, 

The sentry paced me firelock in hand. 

When George sent hirelings to repress our cause, 

The sentry paced me, he that knows no pause.” 

“ Across the way proud Royal tilled the soil, 

That open plain, with Afric’s sable toil; 

His right hand fought from Britain to be loose, 

His left shipped slaves to Antiqua for use.” J. Spare. 

Fifty years after the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 
1826, the " Crane Guards,” of Canton, marched to the top of 
the hill, and with numerous attendants celebrated the occasion. 
An oration was pronounced from the highest platform by Will¬ 
iam Dunbar, Esq., of Canton, closing with these words : " This 
mountain is consecrated and hallowed ground, dedicated to 
Liberty and Independence.” 



























THE BLUE HILLS. 


73 


NAVAL BATTLE. 

There is a well-authenticated report that the battle of the Ches¬ 
apeake and Shannon was witnessed by many citizens of Milton 
and Canton from this hill. In a monograph by Rear-Admiral 
Preble, who is authority, it is stated that the record of the 
log-book of one of the vessels just before the fight was, “ 6 
leagues due east from the Lower Light.” The distance from 
the summit of the hill to the Lower Light is fourteen miles; 
six leagues beyond this would increase the distance to thirty- 
two miles. The sea horizon is thirty-three and three-eighths 
miles distant, while far beyond this sails may be seen. With a 
clear atmosphere the distance would not seem to prevent an in¬ 
distinct view of the fight; at least the smoke of the battle would 
be seen. It occurred on the first day of June, 1813, between 
the hours of five and seven o’clock, P.M. On that day Cap¬ 
tain Lawrence is said to have left the wharf for the Chesa¬ 
peake, which was anchored off the Light. There was 
great excitement through the whole community, as the arrange¬ 
ments and time of the battle were generally known. All the 
high points commanding the view were covered by anxious 
observers — the steeples of meeting-houses, Baxter’s Hill in 
Quincy, Milton Hill, and the high ground of Hull, as well as 
Blue Hill. But little, however, could be seen of this decisive 
battle of eleven minutes; and the principal testimony which 
has come down to us is that before the battle seemed hardly to 
have begun the two vessels were bearing off towards Halifax. 

OBSERVATORY. 

The top of the hill presents a bald, rocky surface, stretching 
out several hundred feet, and rising from the surrounding level 
fifteen or twenty feet at its highest point. Here, May 30,1798, 
a foundation of heavy stones was built, twenty-one feet square, 
and ten feet high. Upon this foundation was erected a structure 
of wood three stories high, each story ten feet, with substantial 
flooring, and with plank seats and railing securely fixed around 
the outside, accessible by stairs on the inside. 

The work was devised by the proprietor of the “Billing’s 
Tavern,” a hostelry located near the hill, famous a century ago, 
as a resort for fancy dinners, parties, balls, and summer boarders. 
The old tavern was taken down in 1885. It was built two hun¬ 
dred years ago, and was among the oldest buildings in Milton; 
a hall was added at a later date. The neighbors joined in the 
work of building the Observatory or staging, and the patrons of 
the tavern freely contributed to it. The passage up the hill 


74 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


was at the same time repaired, and greatly improved, so that 
carriages could reach the top. This was accomplished by means 
of a “ Bee,” — a favorite method among neighbors, in olden times, 
of joining willing hands and hearts in securing a much desired 
object. 

The Observatory was not built with a particular reference to 
science, but specially for the purpose of opening a wider range 
of vision, and of affording an easy and comfortable position from 
which to take in the magnificent view. Mr. Billings’ carriages 
were passing up and down the hill with his guests almost daily. 

Four years later the structure was blown down, and a second 
staging was erected. In 1822 citizens now living found it in a 
dilapidated condition; it was again repaired by Dr. E. H. Rob¬ 
bins, and remained many years, contributing greatly to the 
pleasure of the numerous visitors on the hill. 

One of our citizens well remembers that fifty years ago and 
more, when he lived near the hill, he was accustomed to con¬ 
duct cherry parties, who came to “ Cherry Tavern,” located on 
the south of the hill within the borders of Canton, and then 
kept by John Gerald, to the top of the hill, by a foot-path, on 
the south side, almost daily, and sometimes twice a day during 
the cherry season. This was continued for five years, until he 
removed to another place. The tavern was famed for its cher¬ 
ries, and visitors took in the trip to the top of the hill as part of 
the excursion. 


TOWER. 

About fifty years ago the authorities of Harvard College 
erected near the summit a circular stone tower, twelve feet in 
diameter at the base, about six feet at the top, and twenty feet 
high. It was set due south from the old Observatory at Cam¬ 
bridge, for the purpose of securing a meridian line. The 
structure was built of stone, the outer course laid in mortar, 
and filled in solid to the top. The right to occupy the site for 
this purpose was purchased of William Hunt, and an annual 
rentage was agreed upon. Apparently great pains were taken 
to make the column solid and strong, to resist the action of the 
elements in this exposed position. But the College no longer 
requiring it for scientific purposes, the hands of time, or more 
truly of mischief-loving boys, have rolled down stone after stone, 
until less than ten feet of the tower is left standing. It is sit¬ 
uated three hundred and forty-five feet due west from the 
summit. A curious circumstance occurred after the completion 
of the tower. At some intervening point, without any knowl¬ 
edge or design, but in the natural course of business, a building 


THE BLUE HILLS. 


75 


was erected wholly obstructing the view. The matter was com¬ 
promised by the owner of the new building consenting that a 
valley be cut through the roof so as to open the line of vision 
between the Observatory and the column. 

MASSACHUSETTS TRIGONOMETRICAL SURVEY. 

In 1830 the State survey was authorized by the Legislature, 
and the triangulation was completed about 1840. The map was 
published in 1844. The work was conducted and completed by 
Mr. Simeon Borden. He measured a base line of 39,009 x 7 ^ feet 
about seven and a half miles, near Deerfield, with extreme pre¬ 
cision, marking the ends as primary stations. He selected 
about one hundred hill-tops for primary stations, marking them 
with copper bolts set in the ledge. From the base line, he ob¬ 
served the angles to the mountain stations, calculating their 
position and distances, and thus continually extending his 
angles till the net-work covered the State. 

The stations at Nahant and Marblehead were determined by 
levelling. Observations between them and Blue Hill gave the 
height of Great Blue Hill as 635.05. Stations to the south were 
referred to the level of Nantucket Sound and Narragansett Bay, 
and when finally connected with Great Blue Hill through the 
triangulation, differed but little from the above result. Borden’s 
Station, on Great Blue Hill, is supposed to have been the centre 
of the square foundation of the old Observatory, which at that 
time was in ruins. Given data enable us to locate his bolt 
twenty six feet and three inches S.S.W. of the U. S. Coast 
Survey bolt, which brings it within the square above referred 
to; but after the most diligent search it has not been found. 
Doubtless vandal hands have broken it from its bed, to secure 
the few pounds of copper it contained. Such has been the fate 
of the “ Borden bolts ” on other hill-tops in Massachusetts. 

The tower of the new Meteorological Observatory stands 
over the site of the Borden bolt; a brass plate on the lower 
floor of the tower marks the position of the bolt 2.2 feet be¬ 
low it, in latitude 42° 12' 44" N., longitude 71° 6' 33" W., and 
635.05 feet above mean tide. 

ALTITUDE. 

In 1820 was published Hales’ Map of Boston and Vicinity, 
in which the heights of many points are given, but often 
greatly in error, as since proved. These measurements are 
doubtless by the barometer, an instrument very unreliable as 
used at that time. 


76 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


This map gives the height of Great Blue Hill, seven hundred 
and ten feet; Hancock Hill, six hundred and seventy feet; 
Bear Hill, six hundred and eighty feet; other summits in the 
range, five hundred and seventy, five hundred and thirty, and 
three hundred and ninety feet; Academy Hill, two hundred 
and eight feet; Wadsworth Hill, two hundred and twenty- 
six feet. These heights are all wrong. 

In 1833 appeared Hitchcock’s Geology of Massachusetts, in 
which the elevations are taken from Hales’ Map; and the errors 
are propagated. 

The first reliable measurement of Blue Hill was by the 
“ Borden Triangulation,” and the result of 635.05 feet above 
mean tide is its true height. 

“Walling’s Official Topographical Atlas of Massachusetts,” 
published in 1871, gives the height of Great Blue Hill at eight 
hundred and thirty-five feet. The Atlas of Walling is only a 
reproduction of Borden’s Map of 1844, in another form, with 
new roads, etc., added, and the height of eight hundred and 
thirty-five feet given in the text of the Atlas is a printer’s error 
for six hundred and thirty-five, and has been so explained by 
Professor Walling. 

The elevation of this hill as given on the Map of Boston and 
its Environs, published in 1866 by Baker & Tilden, is six hun¬ 
dred and thirty-five feet. 

Mr. E. G. Chamberlain, of Auburndale, a member of the 
Appalachian Mountain Club, and an amateur surveyor, whose 
ardent love for the work has led him to measure the heights of 
many of our Massachusetts hills, has published in a late num¬ 
ber of Appalachia (Yol. III., No. 2) an article on the Blue 
Hills, with map, in which he states his method of measurement. 
By triangulation, connecting the summit of Great Blue Hill 
with the levellings of several railroads on the one hand, and 
with tide-water at Lower Mills, Milton, on the other, he 
arrives at results differing but little from that of the State sur¬ 
vey, six hundred and thirty-five feet, which he thus proves cor¬ 
rect. The altitudes of all the Blue Hill summits, and all the 
elevations given in Milton, are on his measurement and author¬ 
ity, unless otherwise stated. 

U. S. COAST SURVEY STATION. 

In the summer of 1845 the corps of engineers of the Coast 
survey took possession of the Great Blue Hill. They had with 
them all their apparatus, telescopes, cooking utensils and tents. 
In order to make the summit more easily accessible, they opened 


THE BLUE HILLS. 


77 


a new road from Canton avenue, at the termination of Blue 
Hill avenue, or at its junction with Canton avenue, and built it 
up the hill, intersecting the old way a quarter of a mile from 
the top. By this road supplies and apparatus were conveyed 
up with but little difficulty. They could also make the ascent 
in carriages. 

Professor B$che erected his marquee on the height, and 
there passed a part of the summer, at times accompanied by 
his wife. On every clear day the whole corps was busily 
occupied, especially in the earlier and later hours of the day, 
in their important work. 

The U. S. Coast Survey Station is 26.25 feet from the centre 
of the square foundation where was located the Borden holt. 
The exact bearing of the U. S. Coast survey bolt from the 
Borden bolt is N. 15° 37' E. Over the bolt there seen through 
all the summer of 1845 stood the signal of the station, a tall 
shaft of wood, surmounted by a cylindrical body of burnished 
metal. The rays of the sun falling upon this bright surface 
rendered it visible at the distance of forty or fifty miles, and 
made this station an important one in the Coast survey. 

In 1875 this station was temporarily occupied by the State; 
over the copper bolt stood a signal pole, supported by a tripod. 

In 1885 and also in 1886 this station was occupied by the 
U. S. Geological survey, in connection with the State Topo¬ 
graphical survey. 

THE METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY OX BLUE HILL. 

Great Blue Hill, being the highest land on the Atlantic 
coast south of Maine, and dominating the other Blue Hills by 
more than a hundred feet is, on account of its free exposure, an 
admirable site for a meteorological station. The project of es¬ 
tablishing such a station was conceived by A. Lawrence Botch 
of Milton, in the summer of 1884. He purchased land on the 
top of the hill and repaired the old path commencing at the 
Great Oak on Canton avenue, so that materials could be 
brought up for the construction of a building, consisting of a 
two-story tower and an adjoining dwelling-house, both built of 
the stone found on the summit. This Observatory was first 
occupied February 1, 1885, and from that time to the present 
(August, 1887) meteorological observations have been regularly 
made and sent monthly to the New England Meteorological 
Society and to the United States Signal Service. Some of the 
objects of these observations were stated by Mr. Botch in a 
paper read before the New England Meteorological Society in 


78 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


October, 1884, to be “ the investigation of the rainfall at this 
elevation, the velocity and direction of the wind, the maximum 
and minimum temperatures, the paths of thunder and other 
local storms and such other phenomena as may present them¬ 
selves.” This and other experimental work has been done; 
but what most interests the public are the daily weather predic¬ 
tions which are signalled by flags displayed on the Observatory 
to the surrounding country. The verification of these local 
predictions, of late, has been more than ten per cent, greater 
than that of the indications of the Government Signal Service. 
The Observatory is well equipped with automatic registering 
instruments, and, with one exception, is probably the most com¬ 
plete in the United States. It is entirely controlled by Mr. 
Rotch, whose first observer was Mr. Willard P. Gerrish. The 
present observer is Mr. H. Helm Clayton, who with the stew¬ 
ard, Frank Brown, live at the Observatory. 

THE INDIAN. 

The country covered by the Blue Hills remains in almost its 
primitive wildness. Little has been done since the advent of 
the European, save to cut the wood from these hills, and then 
wait for another growth. 

Could the red man revisit the place of his former residence, 
amid almost universal change, he would find this little spot of 
his ancient domain unaltered by the hand of man — the same 
wild mountain haunt of his primeval life. 

The home of the Indian we have usurped; he has disap¬ 
peared, and not a trace of his race is seen amongst us, nor a 
single memorial of his life. Let these hills stand in all the 
wildness of nature, unchanged by art or man’s device, a perpet¬ 
ual memorial of the Indian race ! 

The last chief of the Neponset tribe of any special merit was 
Chickataubut. He was here in 1630, and, though he lived 
but a few years after our fathers came, he showed himself 
friendly and helpful amid their early trials. 

The highest summit of the range was called Great Blue Hill 
in an act of the Legislature establishing beacons on its top in 
1776. It has always borne that name, and cannot be changed. 
The summit next in height, situated in the rear of the residence 
of the late Lewis Tucker, Randolph avenue, rises to an altitude 
of 518 feet. This is sometimes called Swan’s Hill and Fenno’s 
Hill, but really has no fixed name. How fitting that this hill 
henceforth bear the name of Chickataubut Hill' — a late, but 


1 Suggested by E. G. Chamberlain. 




THE BLUE HILLS. 


79 


just tribute to the memory of that illustrious chief, and his 
departed race! 

At the extreme south-westerly point of Great Blue Hill, 
where the range boldly rises from the surrounding level, and 
the face of the hill is bald and precipitous, is a shelving rock, 
about forty feet above the highway, just as it turns from Can¬ 
ton avenue around the hill. A distinguished visitor in Milton 
has suggested the beautiful idea of erecting on this shelving 
rock, in full sight of every passer by, and looking towards the 
setting sun, the bronze statue of an Indian. 

FORESTRY LANDS. 

It has long been a matter of interest with a few citizens of 
Milton to devise some plan by which this extensive area of 
wild land may be preserved forever, as a grand sanitarium, not 
only for the towns within whose bounds it lies, but also for the 
great city so near at hand. 

This tract of mountain and forest land is five miles in length 
and a mile or more in width. Within its limits are but few 
dwellings, except in the granite section, as it is generally unfit 
for cultivation. It lies within three miles of the borders of Bos¬ 
ton, and can be reached by the West Quincy branch of the 
Old Colony railroad, as well as by the New York and New 
England, and the Old Colony at Mattapan; and the New York 
and New England, and the Providence railroads at Readville; 
while a line extending from West Quincy to Mattapan would 
circle the entire area. 

The Legislature of 1882 enacted a law, entitled “ An act au¬ 
thorizing Towns and Cities to provide for the preservation and 
reproduction of forests,” particularly designed to effect the pres¬ 
ervation of the Middlesex Fells. This authorizes cities and 
towns to purchase lands to be preserved as forests. The title 
of such lands vests in the Commonwealth. The State Board 
of Agriculture is made a Board of Forestry, with power to pro¬ 
tect and improve said lands, limiting expenditure to the income 
from rents and sales of products. 

The noble efforts to save the Middlesex Fells, north of Bos¬ 
ton, meets with universal favor; the Blue Hill lands, south of 
Boston, should be included in that effort. They are more ex¬ 
tensive, less adapted to agricultural purposes, better suited to 
forestry, nearer the great city, and far more wild, picturesque 
and beautiful than the Middlesex Fells. 

Should the towns within whose borders the land is situated 
unite in its purchase under the act referred to, and the Common- 


80 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


wealth protect it from forest fires, encourage the natural growth 
of wood, and keep it as a sylvan retreat for denizens of town 
and city, a great public benefit would be secured, and the legacy 
to posterity would be* better than gold. 

Such an expanse of woodland, in its full summer strength 
and glory, would prove a regulator and balance in meteorolog¬ 
ical phenomena through a wide district. It would tend to give 
uniformity to the temperature, to the rainfall, and the winds; 
and, by neutralizing malarial influence, would conduce to general 
health and happiness. 

AN UNWELCOME INTRUDER. 

“ Qui legitis flores, et humi naseentia fragra, 

Frigidus 6 pueri! fugite hinc, latet anguis in herba.” 


It might be deemed an unpardonable omission in this descrip¬ 
tion of the Blue Hills, did we not sound the note of alarm found 
in these lines of Virgil — “ O boys, who gather flowers, and 
fragrant strawberries, flee hence, the cold snake lurks in the 
grass!” It is an established fact, however, that while the hills 
may be the habitat of this venomous reptile in the cold season, 
it migrates to the lower lands in early spring. It is found at 
the base of the hills in stone walls, and about cultivated 
grounds. In these localities some are killed every year. But 
the boys range over the hills for berries with safety. Men, who 
have frequented the hills year after year, bear testimony that 
they have never seen a rattlesnake on Great Blue Hill. Mr. 
Charles Breck—our veteran surveyor, who for seventy years 
has ranged over these hills largely in the line of his busi¬ 
ness ; who has examined them more minutely, and knows them 
better than any living man — says in a recent communication to 
the Quincy Patriot, “ In all my tramping over the hills in the 
summer season, I never saw but one, and that a very small one.” 
Their range is narrow, confined mostly to Scott’s woods and to 
the region south of Canton avenue ; o ver this avenue, it is said, 
they never cross. Such, however, are the habits of the reptile 
that there is little danger of an attack from it, even if met with. 
Citizens of over fourscore years can recall but two instances 
where persons have been bitten, neither of which was fatal. 
One was an imbecile, who otherwise might have escaped, and 
who otherwise might have died from the bite. While, there¬ 
fore, this venomous reptile is not a pleasant object to meet in 
one’s pathway, it presents no great terrors to the old residents 
of Milton. 


THE BLUE HILLS. 


81 


THE OUTLOOK. 

From the summit of Great Blue Hill scenes of marvellous 
beauty are revealed. On every side there opens to view a 
charming variety of woods and fields, villages and distant 
mountains. The brief description here given, includes only 
those objects and points seen by the writer, with the unassisted 
eye, on the morning of Sept. 12, 1884. Showers of the pre¬ 
vious evening had washed the atmosphere, leaving it clear 
and transparent; and every condition was favorable to a per¬ 
fect view. 

Facing northerly we see Cambridge, Somerville, and Malden; 
and, far beyond, the hills of Andover and Georgetown. Turn¬ 
ing a little easterly Boston spreads out before the eye, with its 
steeples and turrets, the gilded dome gleaming above the rest, 
ten and a half miles distant. Bearing still easterly we have 
Boston Harbor with its islands, headlands and fortifications; 
over which we see various points on the North Shore, as far as 
Eastern-Point light-house in Gloucester. Forty miles north¬ 
east appear the twin light-houses on Thacher’s Island, seeming 
to stand in the ocean. Far to the right, N. 55° 05' E., fourteen 
miles distant, stands Boston Light, like a sentinel at the en¬ 
trance of the harbor; while beyond it stretches out Massachu¬ 
setts Bay, vast tracts of which are visible. Turning nearly 
east we see Swan’s or Chickataubut Hill, three miles off, 
the second in height of the Blue Hills; over its left slope lies 
Nantasket Beach, and over its right is seen the top of Minot’s 
Light-house. Facing nearly south-east we see the long ridge of 
Manomet Hill in Plymouth, thirty-three miles distant; and at 
its left, twenty-six miles off, looms up against the sky the 
Standish Monument, on Captain’s Hill in Duxbury. 

In this direction stretch out immense tracts of waving 
forests, revealing here and there villages, churches, cultivated 
grounds, and silvery lakes set in borders of green, Hoosic- 
Whisick or Houghton’s pond just at the base ; then, following 
in order Ponkapog, Canton reservoir, and Massapoag in 
Sharon, the latter eight miles south south-west. Directly 
south, and forty miles away, is seen the city of Fall River. 
South-westerly are Woonsocket and other hills in Rhode Island. 
Towards the west and north-west appear the mountains of 
Worcester County, Wachusett, in Princeton, being the most 
conspicuous. Far to the right of Wachusett, and nearly over 
the dome of Dedham Court-house, lies Watatick in Ashburn- 
ham, resembling a hay-stack. North-westerly at least a dozen of 
the peaks of southern New Hampshire are in sight. 


82 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Just at the right of Watatick, and far beyond it, is the Grand 
Monadnock in Jeffrey, 3,170 feet above the sea, and sixty- 
seven and a half miles from the point of observation. 

On the right of Grand Monadnock is a group of nearer sum¬ 
mits, — Mt. Kidder exactly north-west, Spofford and Temple 
Mountains. Then appears the remarkable Pack-Monadock 
near Peterboro’, with its two equal summits. It lies over the 
left section of Sprague’s pond. The next group to the right is 
in Lyndeboro’; the right hand summit is Lyndeboro’ Pinnacle, 
over the left slope of which is Crotchett Mountain, sixty-six miles 
distant. At the right of Lyndeboro’, and nearly over the 
Readville depots, is Joe English Hill, in New Boston, and to 
complete the round, nearly north north-west are the summits of 
the Unkonunock Mountains, fifty-nine miles away. 

And now, removing the eye from these distant objects, there 
is much to attract attention near at hand. City and village 
railroad and factory, with every sign of busy life, intervene. 
On every side, and crowning almost every hill-top, appear the 
solid, comfortable homesteads of past generations, as well as 
more modern and artistic structures. While at the base, 
spread out before the eye like a fancy picture, lies the valley of 
the Neponset, the river meandering in many curves through 
the green meadows, and combining, with the whole wide view, 
to form a panorama hardly excelled in life, beauty and variety 
on any summit in our country. 

It is a spot, above others, full of inspirations; where the mind 
and soul may gain new and deeper revelations of the Infinite 
Creator. 


These are thy glorious works, Parent of Good! 
Almighty ! thine this universal frame, 

Thus wondrous fair; thyself how wondrous then ! 
Unspeakable, who sitt’st above these heavens 
To us invisible, or dimly seen 
In these thy lower works ; yet these declare 
Thy goodness beyond thought, and power divine.” 


TABLE OF ALTITUDES. 

The following altitudes were determined trigonometrically, 
and are referred to mean tide level, or five feet above low tide. 
The probable error varies from two to five feet. 

Neponset River, mean tide.0 

“ “ high tide or tide marsh .... 5 

“ “ at Mattapan Bridge .... 30 



TABLE OF ALTITUDES. 

Neponset River, at Paul’s Bridge 



83 

48 

Adams st. at R.R. Crossing, E. Milton 



45 

“ J. Murray Forbes 



138 

Brush Hill Road, head of Robbins st. 



200 

Miss S. Clark’s residence (old Tucker house) 



210 

H. A. Whitney’s “ . . • . 



125 

Blue Hill ave. cor. Robbins st. . 



135 

“ “ “ cor. Brush Hill Road (West Milton) 

197 

Col. H. S. Russell’s residence, estimated . 



135 

Canton ave. at Wigwam Hill, near H. J. Gilbert’s 


120 

“ “ “ Rev. A. K. Teele’s . 



88 

“ “ cor. Atherton st. . 



150 

“ “ at Billings Tavern 



183. 

“ “ head of Brush Hill Road foot of 

“ Mountain 


Road” . . . . 



205 

“ “ summit near Canton line 



250 

W. E. C. Eustis, residence 



195 

Roger Wolcott’s residence 



260 

“ “ farm-house 



270 

Hillside st. head of Harland st. 



185 

“ summit, at Bugbee path 

“ Houghton’s bend . 



244 



180 

“ Canton line (estimated) 



190 

Houghton’s Pond, surface 



155 

Milton Hill. 



138 

Brush Hill. 



258 

Academy Hill. 



110 

Wadsworth Hill ..... 



190 

Hancock Hill ...... 



507 

South Hancock Hill ..... 



428 

West Hancock Hill (estimated) 



460 

Great Blue Hill 



635 


LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE. 

From the Borden State survey, and the earlier operations of 
the Coast survey, we know the positions of several points as 
compared with the State House Cupola, which was taken as an 
initial point for latitude and longitude. 

The spire of the Unitarian church of Milton has during fifty 
years been a trigonometrical point in the various State and 
National surveys, which have stated its position variously, 
depending mostly on their temporarily assumed position of the 
State House. The recently adjusted positions are as follows: — 








84 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


State House — Lat. 42° 21' 29-60". Lon. 71° 03' 51-04". 
Milton Unitarian Church — Lat. 42° 15' 12-35". Lon. 71° 
04' 50-38". 

Blue Hill Coast Survey, copper bolt — Lat. 42° 12' 43-94". 
71° 06' 52-64". 

Blue Hill, centre of Observatory Tower — Lat. 42° 12' 43-66". 
Lon. 71° 06' 52-76". 


MAPS. 

We have derived no little help from various maps and ancient 
plats that have been discovered, delineating the territory of 
Milton as it existed in early times. 

At the State-House there is a plat of the “ Blue Hill Lands,” 
a portion of which was annexed to Milton. On this plat is the 
following inscription: — 

“ The original of this Plat was finished the first Monday in September, 
1651, and this was transcribed out of it the 29th of March, 1656. — By me 
Joshua Fisher.” 

In the possession of Mr. Edmund J. Baker is the eastern half 
of an old plan of the division of Milton lands before the estab¬ 
lishment of the town; by constant wear the parchment upon 
which the plan was drawn was broken at the folding; the other 
half, describing the westerly section of the town, was lent at the 
time the town of Hyde Park was incorporated, and has not 
been recovered. 

On this plan appears the following memorandum : — 

“ This plan was drawn on a paper plat formei’ly made by Mr. John 
Oliver for the Town of Dorchester, and now by their order is drawn on 
parchment by Joshua Fisher, April 25, 1661.” 

John Oliver died April, 1646. 

The above plan is reproduced for this volume. The restora¬ 
tion of the westerly part, or Sixth Division, is attempted from 
the list of owners found in the records of the “ Proprietors of 
Dorchester.” 

In the year 1795 a map of Milton was made, at the requisition 
of the State, by Mather Withington. A copy of this may be 
seen at the State-House. 

In 1831 each town in the Commonwealth was required to 
furnish a map to be incorporated in the State Map. The map 
of Milton was made by Mr. Edmund J. Baker. This map 
of Mr. Baker, though somewhat rare, is still found in many 
families. It is an exact delineation of the town as it was half a 



MAPS. 


85 


century ago, and has always been relied on for fulness and 
accuracy. 

In 1849 Henry M. Fosdick issued a map of Quincy and Mil- 
ton ; the Milton section is a reproduction of Mr. Baker’s map. 

In 1876 the Atlas of Norfolk County was issued, in which 
the town of Milton appears carefully mapped out from measure¬ 
ments and surveys made at that time. 

Other maps have appeared at various times including Milton. 

NEW MAPS OF 1886. 

In making ready for the Town History it was at first pro¬ 
posed to engraft on Mr. Baker’s map additions from more recent 
ones, hut the necessity of careful explorations in all parts of the 
town, to reconcile discrepancies noticed in the maps already 
issued, led to the making of a new map; the results indicating 
the accuracy of Mr. Baker’s work. 

From the latitude and longitude already given it is ascer¬ 
tained that the steeple of the Unitarian Church (which was 
one of Borden’s land marks) is N. 31° 28' E. from the Blue 
Hill Observatory, and distant therefrom 17,650 feet, about three 
and one-half miles. From this base line a few prominent points 
were carefully located, and the details filled in with pocket ap¬ 
paratus constructed for this purpose. The map was brought up 
to Jan. 1, 1886. Houses erected since that date fail to appear. 

The modern and historic maps being then traced from this 
common original the precise location of any point on either can 
be found on the other by measuring from the nearest points 
common to both. 

The obvious advantage of having maps to fold but one way 
led to the adoption of a small scale and the consequent com¬ 
pression of much of material into a small compass. 

We are greatly indebted to Mr. E. G. Chamberlain, of Au- 
burndale, by whose unwearied pains and care the maps have 
been made. All roads, cart-paths, drift-ways and cattle-beats 
have been traced out with compass in hand. The streams and 
rivulets have been followed to their sources. The altitudes 
have been taken with care, and whatever would contribute to 
fulness and accuracy has received attention. 


86 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


OWNERS AND OCCUPANTS OF HOUSES. 

[As numbered on the map.] 

For convenience in locating, the town is considered in five 
sections, A, B, etc., separated by Adams street, Randolph, 
Canton, and Blue Hill avenues. Dwelling-houses in each sec¬ 
tion are numbered 1, 2, 3, etc., to correspond with the text. 
The owners of the houses are italicized. 


SECTION A. 

North of Adams Street. 


1 . G. S. Webster. 

V. O. A. Andrews. 

I". Joseph Farrell. 

2. E. B. Andrews. 

2'. James Smith. 

2". J. S. Crawford. 

3 . Jesse Bunton, 

Mrs. W. Q. Baxter. 

4. Jesse Bunion, 

Heirs of Jesse Bunton, 
W. P. Beck. 

5 . 0. T. Rogers, 

W. H. B. Root , 

Mrs. W. If. B. Root, 
Janies G. Smith. 

6 . A. A. Brackett. 

7 . A. A. Brackett, 

Dennis Sage. 

8 . A. A. Brackett, 

J. A. Simpson. 

8'. A. A. Brackett. 

8". A. A. Brackett. 

9 . Benj. Beal, 

E. V. R. Reed, 

J. B. Newcomb, 
William Taylor. 

9 '. M. Barry. 

10. John Cross. 

11. J. II. Blake. 

12. Thomas Williams, 
Thomas Williams. 

13. Ross Cook, 

Thomas Williams, 
John P. Reed, 

N. H. Beal, 

F. H. Kibble. 

14. D. Ford, 

J. F. Lord. 

15. James Craig, 

16. George Adams, 

J. II. Blake. 

17. S. F. Littlefield, 

W. T. Powell. 


18. - Woodman, 

Samuel Babcock, 

Heirs Samuel Babcock, 
John Delong. 

19. Samuel Littlefield, 

Heirs Samuel Littlefield, 
J. M. Watson. 

20. H. H. Flanders, 

J. P. Bates, 

Mrs. J. H. Hopkins. 

21. - Turner, 

» Moses Grant, 

J. Wesley Grant, 

A. W. Clapp. 

22. D. W. Gordon, 

J. B. Newcomb, 

T. L. Pierce. 

23. - Glover, 

John Adams, 

W. N. Gardner. 

24. J. B. Whitcher, 

E. J. Eaton. 

25. J. B. Whitcher, 

Jonathan Rollins, 

Isaac Shute. 

26. Louis Walters, 

John Graham, 

Charles Williams. 

27. Richard Banning, 

Mrs. Richard Banning. 

28. Or in Bates, 

John Garrity. 

29. Mrs. II. G. Emery, 

S. F. Cooper. 

30. Samuel Brown, 

H. G. Emery, 

Mrs. O. E. Sheldon, 

J. A. Emery, 

* George Choate, 

C. J. Dettling. 

31. Charles Adams, 

Heirs Charles Adams, 
Patrick McDonald, 



OWNERS AND OCCUPANTS OF HOUSES. 


87 


James Bohan, 
Thomas Christy. 

32. Joseph Adams, 

G. W. Randlett, 

Mrs. G. W. Randlett. 

33. James Adams, 

Heirs James Adams, 
Edward H. Adams. 

34. Josiah Babcock, 
Josiah Babcock, Jr., 
Mrs. F. Harris. 

35. J. H. Adams, 

Mrs. J. H. Adams. 

i 36. Josiah Babcock. 

Mrs. Josiah Babcock, 
Thomas Haley, 
Thomas Harkinson. 

37. Josiah Babcock, 

C. F. Babcock, 
Michael Dunnican, 
Mrs. Buchan. 

38. Josiah Babcock, 

C. F. Babcock, 

Mrs. M. Welch, 
Harvey Robbins. 

39. Josiah Babcock, 

C. F. Babcock, 
Thomas Kenney, 
James M’Cue. • 

40. Josiah Babcock, 

C. F. Babcock, 

G. A. Graham, 
Andrew Magee. 

41. Josiah Babcock, 

C. F. Babcock, 

Daniel Leary, 

John Leary. 

42. Josiah Babcock, 

C. F. Babcock, 

John B. Manhire, 
Mrs. Perry. 

43. Franklin Fisher, 
Oliver Pierce, 

Mrs. Oliver Pierce. 

44. Simeon Emerson. 

45. F. M. Hamlin. 

46. Albert Huckins. 

47. D. F. Arnold, 
William Strong. 

48. John Shields. 

49. W. Evans, 

J. M. Forbes, 

James Faulkner. 

50. J. Rowell, 

Josiah Babcock, 

W. J. Martin, 

F. L. Pierce, 

Dennis Finn. 

51. J. Rowell, 


Josiah Babcock, 

W. J. Martin, 

F. L. Pierce, 

John Collins. 

52. J. Rowell, 

Josiah Babcock, 

W. J. Martin, 

F. L. Pierce, 

Daniel Connelly. 

53. Joshua Emerson, 

Heirs Joshua Emerson, 
Miss Ann Lucas. 

54. Rufus P. Fenno, 

Mrs. Rufus P. Fenno. 

55. Rufus Pierce, 

Gideon Thayer, 

Betsey Briggs, 
Elizabeth Briggs, 

H. E. Shelden, 

J. E. Mellen. 

56. II. E. Shelden. 

57. 0. E. Shelden, 

Mrs. 0. E. Shelden. 

58. Samuel Babcock, 

Mrs. Samuel Babcock. 

59. Shepherd Bent, 

Jerry Fenno, 

R. P. Fenno, 

J. P. Fenno, 

James O’Neil, 

H. C. Lawton. 

60. Ebenezer Pope, 

G. W. Bass. 

61. Joseph Rowt, 

G. W. Hall, 

Thomas Forbes, 

Henry Briley. 

62. John Felt, 

Willard Felt, 

Joseph Rowe, 

Penelope White, 

Mrs. O. E. Sheldon, 
Michael Mullen, 

Daniel Carroll. 

63. Daniel H. Adams, 

H. P. Roberts, 

James Chamberlain, 
William Pedan. 

64. Joseph Ewell, 

Lucien Crosby, 

Heirs Lucien Crosby, 
Misses Zeigler, 

Mrs. Kimball. 

65. Daniel H. Adams, 

G. W. Tarbox, 

Samuel Babcock, 

L. W. Tappan, 
Alexander Anderson, 
James Sangster. 



HISTORY OF MILTON. 


66. Thomas Callahan, 

66. Stephen Gunning, 
Thomas Callahan. 

57. Mrs. Thomas Callahan, 
William White. 

68. George Skinner, 

George B. Cary, 

E. M. Cary. 

69. Benjamin Fields, 
Ebenezer Williams, 

G. B. Cary, 

E. M. Cary, 

James Gibbs, 

Francis Robinson. 

70. Nathaniel Bent, 

Heirs Nathaniel Bent, 
E. M. Cary, 

John W. Lawton, 

George Crockett. 

71. Nathan Babcock, 
William Babcock, 

Josiah Babcock, 
Cornelius Babcock. 

72. S. Frothingham, 

H. P. Kidder. 

73. R. S. Watson. 

74. R. B. Forbes. 

75. T. R. Glover. 

76. Mrs. J. Chapman, 

J. C. Bancroft. 

77. W. H. Forbes. 

78. W. H. Forbes, 

C. S. Hinds. 

79. J. H. Morison, 

Mrs. A. W. Merriam. 

80. E. Ware, 

Misses H. and E. Ware. 

81. Samuel Swift, 

Thomas Hollis, 

J. B. Thayer, 

L. W. Tappan, Jr. 

82. B. F. Dudley. 

83. John M. Forbes. 

84. J. M. Forbes, 

James Mitchell. 

85. Daniel Briggs, 
Nathaniel Thomas, 

J. M. Forbes, 

Joseph Brewer. 

86. Joseph Angier, 

Mrs. Joseph Angier, 
Joanna Rotch. 

87. John M. Forbes, 

J. Malcolm Forbes. 

88. 0. W. Peabody. 


89. Misses Swift. 

90. Samuel K. Glover, 
William Glover, 

E. H. Faucon. 

91. Moses Whitney, 

Mrs. Jones, 

C. P. Tileston. 

92. John Swift, 

John Swift, 

Misses Swift, 

Lemuel Crossman. 

93. Misses Swift, 

S. C. Hebard. 

94. Wm. Babcock, 

Nathan Stanley, 
Samuel Everett, 
Horatio Webster. 

95. Moses Whitney, 

R. M. Todd, 

G. K. Gannett, 

0. S. Godfrey, 

Mrs. 0. S. Godfrey, 
Lawrence Mahoney. 

96. Moses Whitney, 

R. M. Todd, 

G. K. Gannett, 

0. S. Godfrey, 

Mrs. 0. S. Godfrey, 
Mrs. J. Coakley, 

Mrs. John Hart. 

97. Daniel Vose, 

D. T. Vose, 

E. J. Baker, 

Mrs. Bulger. 

98. Old Library Building. 

99. Daniel Vose, 

Heirs of Daniel Vose, 

N. F. Safford, 

Ralph Durham. . 

100. N. C. Martin, 

H. B. Martin. 

101. Paper-Mill Co., 
Jeremiah Smith, 

Miss Lillie, 

Isaac Sanderson, 

Dr. J. Ware, 

H. L. Pierce, 

H. C. Gallagher. 

102. R. M. Todd, 

G. K. Gannett, 

O. S. Godfrey, 

Mrs. 0. S. Godfrey, 

P. Hansbury, 

B. Manion. 



OWNERS AND OCCUPANTS OF HOUSES. 


89 


SECTION B. 

Between Adams Street and Randolph Avenue. 


1. Jonathan Russell, 

Heirs of Jonathan Russell. 
1'. Heirs of J. Russell, 

C. S. Charming. 

2. Dr. Holbrook, 

Mrs. F. Cunningham. 

3. Margaret Forbes, 

Edward Cunningham, 

J. Murray Forbes. 

4. Charlotte L. Weston. 

5. Gideon Beck, 

F. French, 

E. S. Chape lie, 

Cyrus Brewer. 

6. H. P. Jaques. 

7. Mrs. F. Cunningham, 

T. Laffey. 

8. 0. W. Peabody, 

John Cottle. 

9. - Ellis, 

- Sumner, 

Beza Thayer, 

Nathan Pond. 

10. Lemuel How, 

Ziba Blake, 

Jeremiah Crane, 

Thomas Hunt, 

Alfred Hunt. 

11. C. M. S. Churchill. 

12. Joseph Gooch, 

E. II. Robbins, 

Asaph Churchill, 

Miss Sarah Churchill. 

13. J. M. Churchill. 

14. C. E. Perkins. 

15. R. C. Watson. 

16. W. S. Ladd. 

17. F. C. Perkins. 

18. J. M. Barnard. 

19. J. W. Brooks, 

Mrs. J. W. Brooks. 

20. W. D. Brooks, 

Mrs. W. D. Brooks. 

21. F. C. Cabot, 

F. A. Lovering. 

22. J. M. Forbes, 

W. H. Sawtelle. 

23. J. W Brooks, 

Mrs. J. W. Brooks, 
Thomas Clark. 

24. J. W. Brooks, 

Mrs. J. W. Brooks, 

George Wild, 

Eugene Gilson. 

25. L. H. Barnard, 


R. S. Watson, 
Joseph Davidson. 

26. II. P. Kidder, 

0. W. Peabody, 

H. Gray. 

27. Isaac How, 

Josiah How, 

Miss Peggy How, 
Jesse Sumner, 

Mrs. Jesse Sumner. 

28. Dean Pearce, 

J. M. Brown. 

29. Joshua Nute, 

C. II. Nute, 

Orin Wetherbee. 

30. J. H. Snow, 

Mrs. J. Me Whirk. 

30'. James Snow, 

J. H. Snow, 

Mrs. J. Me Whirk. 

31. D. G. Corliss, 
Charles Wadsworth. 

32. Thomas G. Hunt. 

33. Rufus Gulliver, 
Lemuel Piper, 

Mrs. Lemuel Piper. 

33'. John Gleason. 

34. Thomas Hanna. 

34'. John Murray. 

35. D. G. Corliss, 

C. H. Bowman. 

36. Samuel Adam.s, 

Mrs. J. G. Young, 
G. II. Bent. 

37. Nathaniel Tucker, 
A. Withinqton, 
Lewis Tucker, 

J. W. Vose, 

C. L. Copeland, 
Christiana Johnson. 

38. Cephas Belcher, 

S. Turner, 

W. S. Boden, 

Heirs W. S. Boden, 
G. D. Boden. 

38'. Cephas Belcher, 

Mrs. E. Caswell. 

39. Warren Swift, 
Minot Thayer, 

W. II. Clark, 

C. F. Jessup. 

40. Alva Snow. 

41. A. French, 

R. V. Tucker, 

Mrs. R. V. Tucker. 



90 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


42. Julia Mitchel, 
Joseph Redfern. 

42'. Joseph Fuller. 

43. Laha Brothers, 

John Lawrence. 

44. D. G. Corliss, 

J. H. Packard. 

45. D. G. Corliss Sf Co., 
E. McDonald, 

Mrs. E. McDonald. 

46. J. W. Donovan. 

47. Thomas Copeland, 
Samuel Babcock, 
Jerry Brophy. 

48. D. G. Corliss. 

49. John Glover, 

James Mitchel, 
Samuel Young. 

50. Oliver Bowman, 

G. G. Glover, 

A. W. Vose. 

51. Thomas Gordon. 

52. J. B. Badger. 

53. G. S. Newell, 

S. K. Bayley, 

Heirs S. K. Bayley, 
John Maloy. 

54. James Snow, 

S. K. Bayley, 

Heirs S. K. Bayley. 

55. John Higgins, 

Wm. Higgins. 

56. Samuel Alden, 

John Higgins, 

W. C. Wood. 

57. James Mitchel, 

D. G. Strathdee. 

58. Thomas Craig, 
George Gardner, 

A. Stewart. 

59. Thomas Craig, 

G. Simpson, 

C. F. Green. 

59'. Thomas Craig, 
James Higgins. 

60. John Craig. 

61. Thomas Craig. 

62. William Craig. 

63. Michael Welch, 

P. McCue, 

T. Haley. 

64. Michael Welch, 

P. McCue, 

M. Burns. 

65. Thomas McCue. 

66. Patrick McCue. 

67. J. C. Buchanan. 
Henry Pierce, 

P. McCue, 


W. McKee, 

J. Flarity. 

78. Samuel Brown. 

69. Ebenezer Field, 

D. 0. Clark, 

Heirs D. 0. Clark, 

M. M’Leod. 

70. William Hunt, 

Lewis Bryant, 

Augustus Bryant. 

71. Edward Cunningham. 

72. Edward Cunningham, 

G. M. Lawton. 

73. Edward Cunningham, 

J. Farrell. 

74. Edward Cunningham, 
Thomas Christy. 

75. R. B. Forbes, 

R. B. Forbes, Jr. 

76. John A. Cunningham, 

D. 0. Clark, 

Heirs D. 0. Clark. 

77. D. 0. Clark, 

Heirs D. 0. Clark, 

A. P. Langstrom. 

78. Wm. R. Ware. 

79. John Holman, 

Gov. Jonathan Belcher, 
John Rowe, 

Joseph Rowe, 

Mrs. G. A. Payson. 

80. Hannah R. Webster, 

Mrs. J. F. Dustan, 

Heirs Mrs. J. F. Dustan, 
J. Henry Brooks. 

81. Daniel C. Hutchinson, 

E. D. Wadsworth, 

Charles Breck, 

J. E. Manning. 

82. Thomas Hollis, 

Mrs. Thomas Hollis. 

83. Granite Railway Co. 
Thomas Hollis, 

N. H. Beals, 

W. W. Merrill. 

84. Josiah Babcock, 

Mrs. Josiah Babcock, 

Mrs. Charles Taylor. 

85. Samuel Marden, 

George A. Skinner, 

Heirs George A. Skinner, 

S. W. Osgood. 

86. George A. Skinner, 

Heirs George A. Skinner, 

O. A. Skinner, 

Charles Nourse. 

87. Chandler Fisher, 

E. D. Wadsworth, 

H. F. Fish, 



OWNERS AND OCCUPANTS OF HOUSES. 


91 


Eugene Gray. 

88. Orin Bates. 

89. Orin Bates, 

O. E. Bates. 

90. Mrs. Lemuel Adams, 

G. W. Triggs , 

Mrs. G. W. Triggs. 

91. Aaron Mar den, 

C. G. West, 

Mrs. C. G. West. 

92. William Smith, 

Richard Drew, 

Mrs. J. D. Crossman. 

93. John Brokenshire, 
George W. Tarbox, 

Mrs. George W. Tarbox. 

94. Richard McKay, 

95. James Vincent, 

W. S. Leavitt . 

96. G. H. Loud. 

97. J. B. Loud, 

Wm. Robertson. 

98. M. J. Barry, 

James Gallagher. 

99. Louis Walters, 

Mrs. J. Ware. 

100. Louis Walters, 

J. S. Connor. 

101. W. N. Gardner, 

Thomas Whalen, 

J. T. R. Martin. . 

102. Louis Walters, 

Mrs. Walters, 

Daniel Murphy, 

John Baldwin. 

103. M. S. Barry. 

104. F. II. Kibble, 

James Works. 

105. John R. Martin. 

106. Richard McKay, 

Erank Drew, 

C. Shaw. 

107. Charles Pierce, 

Charles Pierce, 

Heirs of Charles Pierce, 
William Chesley, 

L. T. Hathaway, 

Warren Allen. 

108. W. H. B. Root, 

Henry Gallagher. 

109. Hezekiah Adams, 
Patrick Watson. 

110. Mrs. Spalding, 

John Walsh. 

111. John P. Bates, 

N. H. Beals, 

W. B. Adams, 

D. Chrisholm. 

112. John P. Bates, 


113. 

N. H. Beals, 

J. S. Connors, 

F. E. Badger, 

E. Mudgett, 

114. 

R. F. Pearce, 

James Hall, 

Miss Sarah Taylor. 
Noah Cummings, 

115. 

116. 

H. M. Fosdick, 

George Littlefield, 

Mrs. J. Wellington, 
Miss Abby Wellington, 
Mrs. Henry Littlefield. 
George S. Newell, 

117. 

John B. Newcomb. 

- Morse, 

118. 

Jonathan Beale, 

John Adams, 

George W. Seward, 
Mrs. George W. Clapp. 
Launcelot Pierce, 

119. 

John Pierce, 

John Pierce, 

Henry West, 

N. C. Buck. 

Thomas Hollis, 

120. 

N. H. Beals, 

H. N. Cutter. 

Thomas Hollis, 

121. 

N. H. Beals, 

G. H. Clement. 

W. A. Perry. 

Thomas Hollis, 

122. 

N. H. Beals, 

M. J. Clements. 

Alvah Martin, 

123. 

Jonathan Martin, 

J. Wesley Martin, 

Mrs. McCue, 

Miss Middlemiss. 
Chandler Fisher, 

124. 

George Penniman, 
Josiah Babcock, 

James A. Shaw, 

125. 

John M. Smith, 

Mrs. John M. Smith. 
Patrick Fanning. 

126. 

James S. Crawford, 

127. 

Mrs. McKenna. 

J. W. Severance. 

128. 

M. J. Barry, 

129. 

Mrs. Payer, 

W. E. Drew, 

E. S. Wright. 

John Darby. 

130. 

G. T. Staples, 

131. 

Wm. Clark, 

Thomas Gray. 

Patrick McKay, 






92 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Mrs. Patrick McKay, 
Mrs. Choate. 

1 32. Cornelius Riordan. 

133. James Wigley. 


134. Samuel W. Alden. 

135. Cornelius Murphy. 

136. John Rand, 

Mrs. Brokenshire. 


SECTION C. 

Between Randolph and Canton Avenues. 


1. S. D. Whitney, 

Joseph Grafton, 

Samuel Gannett. 

2. Frank Cambell, 

Dr. C. C. Holmes, 

Mrs. C. C. Holmes. 

3. R. M. Todd. 

4. Charles Larkin, 

F. B. White, 

Mrs. Jaques. 

5. Jonathan Russell. 

Heirs Jonathan Russell, 

C. Hayes, 

James Morrisey. 

6. Jason Kennedy, 

J. H. Sherman, 

L. W. Senter, 

J. H. Burt $ Co., 

Mrs. A. H. Williams. 

7. Andrew Allen, 

E. W Fowler. 

8. Josiah Webb, 

A. B. Clam. 

9. Josiah Webb. 

10. Jonathan Russell, 

Heirs Jonathan Russell, 
Misses Dow. 

11. T. Ryan, 

Wm. Cunningham, 

Miss Ryan. 

12. Wm. Cunningham, 
Stephen Welch, 

Mrs. Covil. 

13. T. Ryan, 

Wm. Cunningham, 
James McGowan, 

P. Cunningham. 

14. L. W. Senter, 

II. S. Messenger. 

15. G. W. Hamilton. 

16. T. H. Tilden. 

17. M. C. Chapman, 

G. W. Nickerson, 

Mrs. Emma E. Clapp. 

IT. C. S. Ghanning, 

Misses Channing. 

18. J. F. Twombly, 

A. T. Twombly. 

19. Nathan Grodfrey. 

20. Gideon Beck. 


21. T. S. Briggs, 

Heirs T. S. Briggs, 

H. K. Lathrop. 

W. R. Emerson. 

22. Wm. Wood. 

23. Thomas Hollis, 

John Weiss, 

G. K. Gannett, 

H. II. W. Sigourney, 

Heirs H. H. W. Sigourney. 

24. Alpheus French, 

Wm. Davis, 

W. S. Davis, 

O. S. Godfrey. 

Mrs. 0. S. Godfrey. 

25. George French, 

D. S. Wenthworth, 

R. P. Fenno, 

J. II. Dudley. 

26. James Lyford, 

W H. Kent, 

Mrs. J. Holden, 

Samuel Gannett, 

Joseph Bachelor. 

27. Joseph Vose, 

Heirs of Joseph Vose. 

28. J. T. Hunt. 

29. J. Beal, 

Esther Beal, 

Cynthia Beal. 

30. N. Grossman. 

31. F. II. Trow, 

J. H. Burt $ Co., 

E. F. Wilber. 

32. Nathan Crossman, 

Samuel Sloan. 

33. Abner Bowman, 

John Packard, 

Bartholomew Trow, 

A. C. Gardner. 

34. Daniel Moulton, 

Thomas Harlow. 

35. Beza Thayer, 

Mrs. Beza Thayer, 

John Brown. 

36. Charles Barnard, 

Mrs. Charles Barnard. 

37. J. L. Nutter, 

A. C. Gardner, 

Henry Crane. 





OWNERS AND OCCUPANTS OF HOUSES. 


93 


88. 3Iinister’s House 1663, 

■ Vose Crane, 

Dolly and Polly Crane, 
Edwin Breck. 

W. P. Blanchard. 

39. S. D. Whitney. 

40. M. V. Pierce. 

41. Lewis Vose, 

Joshua Ward, 

Abigail Sumner, 
Charles Breck. 

42. John Sias, 

Mrs. John Sias. 

43. Eliphalet Sias. 

44. Joseph Sias. 

45. C. E. C. Breck. 

46. Hiram Tuell. 

47. A. E. Touzalin. 

47'. Francis Amory, 

J. B. Bush, 

A. E. Touzalin. 

48. Benjamin Read, 

J. E. Read, 

Mrs. F. Sanford, 

Miss F. Read. 

49. Elijah Wadsworth, 
Benjamin Vose, 

Mary Vose, 

J. II. Shepherd, 

J. P. Holmes. 

49'. Joseph Holmas. 

50. H. S. Russell. 

51. II. S. Russell, 

Charles Brown. 

52. H. S. Russell, 

T. Appleford. 

53. John Gulliver, 

Miss M. Sumner, 

Mrs. Stebbins, 

II. S'.. Russell. 

54. Rev. Nathaniel Robbins, 
E. H. Robbins, 

Dudley Walker, 
Francis Amory, 

II. S. Russell. 

55. Benjamin Bronsdon, 
John R. Dow, 

William II. Davis, 

W. R. Robeson, 

II. Gilbert, 

II. J. Gilbert, 

S. L. Whaley. 

56. Almshouse. 

57. Almshouse. 

58. C. H. Merriam, 

Wm. Merriam, 

C. H. Merriam. 

59. L. J. Clapp, 

S. L. Tucker, 

Mrs. Ellen Denny, 


D. Donovan. 

60. Nathaniel Sillsbee, 

Heirs Nathaniel Sillsbee. 

61. James Read, 

J. P. Reed, 

Nathaniel Sillsbee, 

Heirs Nathaniel Sillsbee, 

C. F. Kelley. 

62. Francis Kelley, 

Martin McCue. 

63. N. II. Spafford. 

64. John Madden, 

Mrs. F. Kelley. 

65. Joseph M. Howe, 

E. W. Cdlef, 

W. II. Snow. 

66. John Shaw. 

67. W. II. Balkam. 

68. Josiah Wadsworth, 
George Owen, jr. 

C. T. S. Townsend. 

69. John Wadsworth, 

William Wadsworth, 
Josiah Wadsworth, 

D. S. Wentworth, 

C. T. S. Townsend, 
Frank Ormsby, 

Julian Hunt. 

70. C. L. Copeland, 

Alpheus Field, 

J. L. Bartlett. 

71. William Wadsworth, 
Warren Reed, 

Reed Bros., 

C. Tate. 

72. Benjamin Wadsworth, 
Joseph Wadsworth, 
Benjamin Wadsworth, 
Jason Wadsworth, 

T. T. Wadsworth, 

E. D. Wadsworth, 

Edgar Lindsay. 

73. E. D. Wadsworth. 

74. Jason Wadsworth, 

T. T. Wadsworth, 

E. D. Wadsworth, 

Orin Sears, 

H. S. Young. 

75. Warren Reed, 

Reed Bros. 

76. Samuel Adams, 

G. A. Fletcher. 

77. Samuel Adams, 

Heirs Samvel Adams. 

78. Josiah Bent, 

Samuel Adams. 

Heirs Samuel Adams. 

79. Samvel Adams. 

Heirs Samuel Adams, 
Frank A. Clapp. 





94 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


80. Samuel Adams, 

Heirs Samuel Adams, 
S. T. Bent, Jr., 

80. Calvin H. Sanford. 

81. John Gibbons, 
Whiting Vose, 

G. K. Gannett. 

82. George Vose. 

83. John Gibbons, 

Joel Pratt, 

Josiah Bent, 

Noah Reed, 

Miss Rachel Reed. 

84. Jesse Tucker, 

D. W. Tucker. 

85. Isaac Tucker, 

A. D. Vose. 

86. Stephen Miller, 

E. H. Robbins, 
Nathaniel Tucker, 
Simeon Palmer, 

H. S. Russell, 

J. H. Farrington. 

87. Nathaniel Tucker, 
Simeon Palmer, 

II. S. Russell, 

Henry Gerald. 

88. G. L. Copeland, 
Martin Ertis, 

William Abbott. 

89. Samuel Tucker, 

R. V. Tucker, 

Minot Thayer, 

W. H. Clark. 

90. M. Thayer, 

P. Jacobs, 

Elbridge Snow. 

91. E. G. Snow, 

92. W. H. Roberts, 

Mrs. W. H. Roberts. 

93. C. L. Copeland. 

94. Samuel Tucker, 

A. M. Withington, 

C. K. Hunt, 

S. A. Richards, 

H. Bowley. 

95. Samuel Tucker, 

A. Withington, 
Thomas Hunt, 

Samuel Cook, 

C. K. Hunt. 

96. Samuel Cook. 

97. Stephen Wentworth, 

N. F. Safford, 

W. T. Cook. 

98. A. French, 

George Bronsden, 

L. V. Bronsden. 

99. C. K. Hunt, 

L. A. Ford. 


100. Jerry Tucker, 

J. L. Kennedy. 

101. A. Kennedy, 

J. L. Kennedy. 

102. Beza Thayer, 
Jason Thayer, 
H. F. Thayer. 

103. Jason Thayer, 
Azel Thayer, 
H. F. Thayer, 

. Josiah Field. 

104. Jason Thayer, 
Jason Kennedy, 

- Bruce, 

- Means, 



Dr. Jackson, 

N. W. Hastings, 

J. P. Campion, 
Edward Malone. 

105. 

Jason Thayer, 

John Gerald, 

H. F. Thayer. 

106. 

- Barrows, 

J. L. Kennedy, 

C. French, 

Ruth Johnson. 

107. 

George Raymond, 
J. W. Shapley, 

P. Mclntire. 

108. 

George Hunt, 

James Breck, 

Mrs. James Breck. 

109. 

Joseph Caswell, 
Samuel Cook, 

Mrs. S. Cook, Jr. 

110. 

Artemas Cook, 

C. F. Cook, 

James Dorr. 

111. 

W. F. Boden. 

112. 

G. S. Russell. 

113. 

G. S. Russell, 

C. A. White, 

A. Churchill, 

Wm. McDonald. 

114. 

Samuel Holmes, 
Charles Holmes, 
Sally Sampson, 
Sylvanus Simmons. 

115. 

116. 

John Gay, 

J. Pierce, 

John Sullivan, 

W. T. Cook. 

117. 

John Hickey, 

Mrs. W. Grant. 

118. 

John Hunt, 

E. J. Baker, 

J. Lewis. 

119. 

Joseph Hunt, 
Thomas Hunt, 

J. M. Forbes, 






OWNERS AND OCCUPANTS OF HOUSES. 


95 


E. M. Cary, 

Charles Mitchell. 

120. Ralph Houghton, 

Joseph Houghton, 

Ebenezer Houghton, 

Jason Houghton, 

J. W. Houghton, 

G. § J. Houghton, 

J. C. Talbot. 

121. Gideon Hunt, 

Josiah Hunt, 

J. S. Eldridge, 

H. L. Pierce, 

J. B. Robinson. 

122. Mrs. P. Reynolds, 

J. P. Reynolds. 

123. Minot Hunt, 

Mrs. P. Reynolds. 

124. John Farrington, 

J. II. Farrington, 

F. L. Gerald, 

J. II. Ney. 

125. William Tucker, 

Ebenezer Tucker, 

Seth Crane, 

Jonathan Farrington, 
Alfred Johnson, 

J. H. Reynolds. 

126. E. Baldwin, 

J. French, 

Alfred Crossman. 

127. John Myers, 

Elbridge Blackman. 

128. D. 0. Scannell, 

Mrs. D. 0. Scannell. 

129. J. A. Tucker. 

130. Edwin M. Clapp, 

George Crowd, 

Heirs George Crowd. 

131. Eliphas Clapp, 

N. F. Safford. 

132. L. J. Clapp, 

N. F. Safford, 

Benjamin Lyons. 

133. Nathaniel Davenport, 

Dr. Turner, 

E. G. Tucker, 

Samuel Eldridge, 2d, 

Mrs. Samuel Eldridge, 2d. 

134. Dr. John Sprague. 

E. Baldwin, 


F. A. Eustis, 

Mrs. F. A. Eustis. 

135. Frederick Moses, 

R. A. Richards, 

W. E. C. Eustis, 

P. Monahan. 

136. A. B. Eustis, 

H. R. Storer, 

W. E. C. Eustis. 

137. A. B. Eustis, 

H. R. Storer, 

W. E. C. Eustis. 

138. W. E. C. Eustis. 

139. N. T. Davenport. 

140. Nathaniel Davenport, 

II. S. Davenport. 

141. Lyman Davenport, 
Augustus Hemenway, 

Mrs. A. Hemenway, 

Miss Kelsey. 

142. Nathaniel Davenport, 
Nathaniel Davenport, Jr. 
Palmer Cutting, 

A. Rodman, 

Augustus Hemenway, 

Mrs. A. Hemenway. 

143. Phinehas Davenport, 

F. W. Davenport, 

Judge Huntington, 

A. Hemenway, 

Mrs. A. Hemenway. 

144. Augustus Hemenway, 

Mrs. Augustus Hemenway. 

145. Thomas Harahan, 

H. M. Leeds, 

Daniel Denny. 

146. Daniel Denny, 

James Uevelen. 

147. Hannah Billings, 

Moses Gragg, 

H. M. Leeds, 

Wainwright # Denny. 

148. Roger Wolcott. 

149. J. H. Wolcott, 

J. B. Bacon. 

150. Frank Davenport, 

J. S. Eldridge, 

Mrs. J. M. Lewin. 

151. A. Lawrence Rotch, 

Blue Hill Observatory. 


SECTION D. 


Between Canton and Blue Hill Avenues. 


1. John Collins. 

T. $ J. Collins, 

Mrs. H. Caswell, 


John Pierce, 
Christy Byrnes. 
S. W. Johnson, 



96 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


M. A. King, 

Mrs. C. A. Bates. 

3. J. Collins, 

Mrs. Beal. 

4. W. H. Gill, 

F.dward Collins. 

5. W. II. Gill, 

Lemuel Crossman, 

Philip Finnegan, 

T. W. Melley. 

6. W. II. Gill, 

Lemuel Crossmail, 

Philip Finnegan. 

7. Charles Dunmore, 

Thomas Lynes, 

Thomas Lynes. 

8. Cornelius Lynes. 

9. James Campbell, 

R. L. Chapman, 

Patrick Conners, 

James Flannagan. 

10. James Campbell, 

R. L. Chapman, 

John Callahan, 

Cornelius Callahan. 

11. James Campbell, 

R. L. Chapman, 

T. McDermott. 

12. James Campbell, 

R. L. Chapman, 

James Bennett. 

13. Edward Curtis, 

E. J. Baker, 

Miss M. Curtis. 

14. Phinehas Paine, 

James Campbell, 

R. L. Chapman, 

15. Joseph Fenno, 

William Melius, 

James Campbell, 

Jesse Pierce, 

Mrs. Jesse Pierce, 

E. L. Pierce, 

A. B. Hibbard, 

John Tucker. 

16. Benjamin Crchore, 

Heirs Benjamin Crehore, 
Mrs. //. Reed. 

17. Lewis Vose, 

Lewis Vose, 

Miss Sarah Vose, 

Heirs Miss Sarah Vose, 
Patrick McCue, 

-Williams. 

18. Lewis Vose, 

Lewis Vose, 

Miss S. Vose, 

Heirs Miss S. Vose, 
George Hunt. 


19. Moses Whitney, 

G. K. Gannett, 

Robert Gordon, 

Mrs. Scully, 

- Vose. 

20. Dr. S. K. Glover, 

Moses Whitney, 

G. K. Gannett, 

Robert Gordon, 

- Vose. 

21. Dr. S. K. Glover, 

Moses Whitney, 

G. K. Gannett, 

Robert Gordon, 

Hugh Feenan. 

22. H. G. Durell, 

F. M. Severance. 

23. Miss Ann Miller, 

Mrs. C. R. Degan, 

G. W. Nickerson, 

E. II. Robbins. 

24. W. R. Miller, 

Joseph Morton, 

N. F. Safford. 

25. George 'Thompson, 

Mrs. M. H. Thompson, 
Frederick Frothingham. 

26. F. H. Campbell, 

P. W. Chandler, 

E. L. Pierce. 

27. J. G. Pierce, 

Misses Pierce. 

28. G. W. Clapp, 

Jabez Sumner, 

Miss S. C. Richardson. 

29. Martin Glennon, 
Thomas Quinn, 

29'. Martin Glennon, 
Thomas Quinn, 

Frank Watson. 

30. II. E. Ware. 

31. Joseph Babcock, 

Samuel Babcock, 
William Davis, 

Heirs William Davis, 
Mrs. G. S. White. 

32. F. A. Davis, 

W. S. Davis, 

H. W. Emmons, 

Helen Willard. 

33. William Davis, 

W. S. Davis, 

G. K. Gannett, 

G. W. Hollis, 

John Flynn, 

Michael Kersey, 

34. William Davis, 

W. S. Davis, 

G. K. Gannett, 




OWNERS AND OCCUPANTS OF HOUSES. 


97 


G. W. Hollis, 

Martin Dolan. 

35. William Davis, 

W. S. Davis, 

G. K. Gannett, 

G. W. Hollis, 

Patrick Corrigan. 

36. Robert Badcock, 

Caleb Hobart, 

Heirs Caleb Hobart, 

T. E. Ruggles. 

37. Caleb Hobart, 

Heirs Caleb Hobart, 

T. E. Ruggles, 

Miss A. Ruggles. 

38. W. M. Brown. 

39. J. P. Reynolds. 

40. A. B. Harlow. 

41. John Swift. 

42. O. H. Coffin, 

Clarence Boylston. 

43. Evan Edwards. 

44. J. H. Whitney. 

45. J. H. Whitney, 

William Brophy, 

Henry Twiss. 

46. C. H. Craig. 

47. M. A. King, 

G. J. Leeds. 

47'. Old Colony R.R. Co., 
Josiah Thompson. 

48. G. A. Stetson. 

49. A. A. Hibbard. 

50. T. M. Lefevre. 

51. T. E. Ruggles, 

E. E. Carter. 

52. John Kendall, 

C. F. Spargo. 

53. J. W. Smith. 

54. Franklin Furber. 

55. T. Edwards. 

56. John Packard, 

Mrs. John Packard. 

57. H. N. Plummer. 

58. Mrs. Martha C. Aitken. 

59. Robert Palfrey. 

59'. George Pierce. 

60. T. E. Ruggles. 

60'. H. B. Martin. 

61. H. B. Martin, 

S. W. Martin, 

W. S. Elliot. 

62. J. H. Whitney, 

A. Wills. 

63. A. G. Perkins. 

64. William Ripley. 

65. Mrs. Susan Leslie. 

66. N. H. Stone. 

67. David D. Meake. 


67'. E. S. Scanlon. 

68. T. Ryan. 

68'. James Burns. 

69. John Buckley. 

70. Ernest Walklin. 

71. J. Q. Adams, 

Mrs. Hunt. 

72. John Marshall. 

73. Tileston $ Hollingsworth, 
T. Sweeney, 

M. Boland, 

P. Cook. 

74. Amor Hollingsworth, 

A. L. Hollingsworth, 

T. F. Clary. 

75. - Neeley, 

Barney Wild, 

George Barry. 

76. Walter Connell, 

J. White, 

A. W. Austin, 

Heirs A. W. Austin. 

77. J. A. Ewell. 

78. Bernard Duffey. 

79. J. White, 

A. W. Austin, 

Heirs A. W. Austin, 

H. S. Hill. 

80. Misses Schofield. 

80'. J. H. Whitney. 

81. H. D. Capen, 

H. A. Jefferson. 

82. J. Welsh, 

C. Packard. 

83. Richard Jones. 

84. J. Welsh. 

85. John Kahler. 

86. J. H. Burt, 

Mrs. Buckley. 

87. Timothy Welsh. 

88. Joseph Haven. 

89. John Myers, 

Heirs John Myers, 

S. A. Meagher. 

90. Walter Cornell, 

C. H. Blanchard, 

J. G. Young, Jr. 

91. John Arnold, 

Mrs. John Arnold. 

92. J. H. Burt. 

93. S. E. Burt. 

94. Miss M. P. Forbes, 

Miss F. C. Forbes, 

J. M. Forbes. 

95. John Arnold, 

J. M. Forbes, 

William Hockaday. 

96. Nathaniel Shepard, 

John Wells, 



98 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Samuel Mather, 

Robert Hinckley, 

T. H. Hinckley. 

97. Francis Bronsdon, 

Mrs. Francis Bronsdon, 

G. A. Harned. 

98. Samuel Bronsdon, 

William B. Bronsdon. 

99. Jonathan Babcock, 

Ezra Clapp, 

Moses Vose, 

Charles Breck, 

J. H. Dudley, Jr. 

100. J. G. Drake. 

101. John Graney, 

Paul Dudley, 

A. Young. 

102. William Davis, 

George W. Davis, 

William Cunningham. 

102'. William Cunningham. 

103. James Mandeville, 

Mrs. James Mandeville. 

104. James Semple, 

Harriet Ware, 

W. B. Chubb tick, 

William Cunningham, 
Andrew Carter. 

105. Josiah Vose, 

Z. Spurr, 

Z. Williams, 

A. Hobson. 

106. W. C. Stratton, 

107. Mrs. E. Clark, 

William Cunningham, 
Edwin Breck, 

108. Edward Fitzpatrick, 

Heirs Edward Fitzpatrick. 

109. Cornelius McCormack. 

110. Comfort Whiting, 

J. W. Blanchard, 

Mrs. A. Draper. 

111. S. W. Cozzens, 

E. Baldwin, , 

G. S. Cushing. 

112. C. G. Hill. 

113. John Littlefield. 

114. G. T. Tilden. 

115. W P. Tilden. 

116. J. 0. Osgood. 

117. Academy House. 

118. Mrs. M. H. Tompson, 

Jerry Gardner. 

119. C. Litchfield, 

Mrs. M. H. Tompson, 
Jerry Childs. 

120. Mrs. M. H. Tompson, 
George Coleman. 

121. W. A. Fredericks. 


122 . 


123. 

124. 


125. 

126. 

127. 

128. 

129. 

130. 

131. 

132. 


133. 

134. 

135. 


136. 

137. 


138. 


139. 

140. 


141. 


142. 

143. 

144. 


145. 

146. 

147. 

148. 


149. 


James Whalen, 
James Melvin, 

John Mellen. 

James Whalen, 
James Hoye, 

John Littlefield, 

Miss E. T. L. Eeed. 
Charles Breck, 
Morris Cavanagh. 
Michael McDermott. 
James Kearney. 
William Brophy. 

M. Manion. 

Timothy McDermott. 
Teddy McDermott, 
James Hickey. 
Timothy Ryan, 

John Murray, 

Heirs John Murray. 
John Rooney. 
Coleman Joice. 
Coleman Joice, 

M. Flarity, 

J. Flarity. 

Dennis Ward, 

Heirs Dennis Ward. 
Thomas Eager, 
Katie Eager, 

Henry Follen, 

John M’Leod. 
Thomas Eager, 
Katie Eager, 
Thomas McVinch. 
Isaac Gulliver, 

I. C. Gulliver. 

L. Gulliver, 

J. Fairbank, 

E. J. Fairbank. 

W. H. Davis, 

W. R. Robeson, 
Horatio Gilbert, 

H. J. Gilbert. 

H. J. Gilbert, 

Frank Brown. 

B. S. Rotch, 

Heirs B. S. Rotch. 
B. S. Rotch, 

Heirs B. S. Rotch, 
John Troy. 

H. B. Tucker. 

A. K. Teele. 

John Myers, 

J. F. Pope. 

Susan Fenno, 

John Bradlee, 

J. W. Bradlee, 

A. K. Teele, 

J. H. Shepherd. 

S. L. Tucker, 




OWNERS AND OCCUPANTS OF HOUSES. 


99 


150. William Tucker, 
Ebenezer Tucker. 
Atherton Tucker, 

John Myers, 

J. Welch. 

151. Michael Laha. 

152. Charles Tucker, 

Mrs. Charles Tucker, 
Martin Lennon. 

153. Manassah Tucker, 
William Tucker, 

John Ruggles, 

Samuel Wales, 

John Myers, 

Dennis Murphy, 

Heirs Dennis Murphy. 

154. John Donohoe. 

155. Patrick Joice. 

156. George Haven, 

L. A. Chase. 

157. John Tolman, 

Leonard Morse, 

J. W. Bradlee. 

158. R. W. Sumner. 

159. Susan Fenno, 

H. A. Whitney, 

Samuel Somes. 

160. H. A. Whitney. 

161. John Diskin. 

162. M. Donahoe. 

163. Ebenezer Tucker, 

William Tucker, 

Seth Sumner, 

Elisha David Sumner, 
Alpheus Cary, 

Hazen Morse, 

Jonathan I. Kendall, 
Heirs of J. I. Kendall, 


Henry A. Whitney. 

164. Lemuel Babcock, 

L. W. Babcock. 

165. John Ruggles, 

L. W. Babcock, 
Lucretia Babcock. 

166. J. Atherton, 

John Bradlee, 

D. G. Hicks. 

167. J. D. Bradlee, 

Heirs J. D. Bradlee. 

168. Phinehas Bronsden, 

W. E. C. Eustis. 

169. J. Tucker, 

John Bronsden, 
Abraham Holmes. 

170. Thomas Corrigan, 

A. Wills. 

171. T. Burns, 

L. Davenport, 

A. Hemenway. 

172. Cicero Cutting. 

173. F. W. Davenport, 

T. Harahan, 

A. Hemenway, 

Mrs. A. Hemenway. 

174. William Crehore, 
William Crehore . Jr., 
Louis Davenport. 

175. II. C. Wainwright. 

176. Leonard Morse, 

C. H. Parker. 

177. R. D. Tucker, 
Leonard Morse, 

J. H. Wolcott. 

178. I. D. Hayward, 
Walter Cabot, 

E. J. Holmes. 


SECTION E. 

West of Blue Hill Avenue. 


1. Jonathan Jackson, 

Hugh McLean, 

John McLean, 

Mass. Gen. Hospital, 
Mark Hollingsworth, 
George Hollingsworth, 
Heirs G. Hollingsworth. 

2. H. B. Tucker, 

P. Morton, 

John Tolman, 

M. Manion. 

3. Charles Tucker, 

A. J. Turner, 

A. N. Talford. 

4. Charles Tucker, 

J. Mann, 


Miss Finn. 

5. Charles Tucker, 

T. F. Lacker. 

6. Charles Tucker, 

J. Mann, 

P. Boyle, 

J. Wills. 

7. II. P. Roberts, 

Miss Roberts. 

8. P. Morton, 

E. A. Fisher. 

9. Charles Tucker, 

Mrs. Mary Dempsey, 
James Chamberlain. 

10. William E. McLaughlin, 
A. D. Thyng. 




100 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


11. Charles Tucker, 

Richard Wall. 

12. Charles Tucker, 

Andrew Hoffman. 

13. S. A. Burt. 

14. Charles Tucker, 

Peter Welch. 

15. Amor Hollingsworth, 

A. L. Hollingsworth. 

16. James Smith, 

James Murray, 

E. H. Robbins, 

J. M. Robbins, 

Heirs J. M. Robbins. 

17. Robert Tucker, 

Manasseh Tucker, 

Heirs of Manasseh Tucker, 
George Clark, 

Jaazaniah Tucker Clark, 
Miss Susan W. Clark. 

18. Roger Sumner, 

William Sumner, 

R. P. Sumner, 

Heirs R. P. Sumner, 
Janies Sumner. 

19. B. H. Turnpike Co., 

R. P. Sumner, 

Gilbert Sumner. 

20. Jesse Vose, 

H. W. Vose. 

21. J. W. Vose. 

22. Jesse Vose, 

Jesse Vose, 

Heirs Jesse Vose, 

H. W. Vose. 

23. W. M. Ferry. 

24. A. E. Capen. 

Mrs. A. E. Capen. 

25. A. E. Capen, 

Mrs. A. E. Capen, 

Andrew M’Glone. 

26. Edward Capen, 

E. W. Capen, 

F. Skinner. 

27. G. S. Ferry. 

28. E. E. Cowles, 

Mrs. E. E. Cowles. 

29. Simon Ferry, 

Heirs Simon Ferry, 

Miss R. Ferry, 

30. Ephraim Tufts, 

W. F. Tufts. 

31. J. W. Denny. 

32. C. G. White. 

33. Amariah Tucker, 

Nathan Tucker, 

Misses Tucker. 

34. Nathan Tucker, 

Misses Tucker, 


J. G. Pierce, Jr. 

35. II. E. Hutchinson, 

J. B. Davis. 

36. Edward Finn. 

37. Timothy Tucker, 

W. H. Oxton. 

38. Dana Tucker, 

Stephen A. Tucker. 

39. James Tucker, 

Miss B. Tucker, 

James Tucker. 

40. Reuben Lyons, 

N. Kingsbury, 

Franklin Sumner. 

41. J. Tucker, 

S. C. Ferry. 

42. J. Tucker. 

43. T. Morris, 

G. H. Chickering. 

44. C. Sloan, 

J. H. Stahl. 

45. Benjamin Sloan. 

46. William Vose, 

A. Kinsman. 

47. Elijah Tucker, 

James Tucker. 

48. 0. Houghton, 

J. Cushing, 

J. H. Burt, 

D. Sheedy, 

Martin Gibbens. 

49. Miss F. C. Forbes. 

50. H. G. Garretson, 
Leonard Morse, 

Mrs. J. W. Bradlee, 
James McKenna. 

51. Edward Coe. 

52. David Burns. 

53. Wm. M. Hunt, 

Heirs Wm. M. Hunt. 

54. William Minot. 

55. Major Joseph Bent, 

Heirs Major Joseph Bent 
W. L. Foster, 

L. Ober, 

W. P. Hall. 

56. C. C. Crehore, 

E. L. Frothinghan. 

57. George W. Greene, 

Mrs. G. W. Greene. 

58. S. Crehore, 

I. Crehore, 

Lyman Davenport. 

59. Lyman Davenport. 

60. Lyman Davenport, 

F. J. Hammer. 

61. Mrs. D. Crehore, 

G. H. Chickering. 

62. Charles Stevens. 
































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OWNERS AND OCCUPANTS OF HOUSES. 


63. John Crehore, 

J. A. Crehore, 
Jonathan Mann. 

64. Wm. Crehore, 

- Frankstan, 

B. White, 

D. H. Elkins, 

Heirs D. H. Elkins, 

C. G. Kennedy. 
John Homans. 

65. Benj. White, 

D. II. Elkins, 

Heirs D. H. Elkins, 
G. G. Kennedy. 

66. E. Davenport, 

G. G. Kennedy. 

67. R. D. Tucker, 

E. Tufts, 


J. 0. Shaw, 

G. G. Kennedy. 

67* G. G. Kennedy. 

68. Isaac Davenport, 

I. D. Hayward. 

Heirs I. D. Hayward. 

69. Isaac Davenport, 

I. D. Hayward, 

Heirs I. D. Hayward, 
G. C. Partlow. 

69'. I. D. Hayward, 

Heirs I. D. Hayward. 

70. Wm. Davenport, 

Miss A. E. Davenport, 
R. H. Stevenson. 

71. R. H. Stevenson. 

72. R. H. Stevenson, 

Farm House. 


101 




ffii! 


102 


HISTORY OF MILT OH. 



CHAPTER Y. 


MILTON HILL. 

T HE township of Milton presents an undulating surface 
broken by valleys of moderate depth, and rising into nu¬ 
merous summits, of which Milton Hill, Brush Hill and the 
Blue Hills are the principal. 

Milton Hill occupies the north-eastern portion of the town. 
Rising by a gradual ascent from the southerly shore of the 
Neponset river, and from the marsh adjoining the river, it 
reaches the height of one hundred and thirty-eight feet above 
mean tide, nearly opposite the residence of Mr. J. Murray Forbes, 
and from this point gradually descends to the plain of East 
Milton, called in early days “ Crane’s Plain,” and later 
“ Pierce’s Plain.” 






MILTON HILL. 


103 


The scenic beauty of Milton Hill can hardly be surpassed. 
From the summit, and along the easterly slope, is seen the river 
winding through the marshes, which its inflowing tide often 
covers, and converts into an inland sea. Villages and turrets, in¬ 
terspersed with patches of forest growth, appear on every hand; 
while near and far the waters of the harbor and bay, stretching 
north and south towards the ocean, gemmed with islands, and 
alive with the activities of commerce, combine to make up a 
picture which the eye never wearies in beholding. Rare is the 
traveller over this hill who is not held enraptured by the scene. 



>ii?UndV,'ew rrotyCburcblii Hoik 


The westerly slope presents scenery scarcely less picturesque. 
Academy Hill, from which rise the spires of the Milton churches, 
and the lower range of the Blue Hills crowned with forests, 
with the interlaying valley of green fields and cultivated lands, 
form a striking picture. 

On this bold outlook the Indian built his wigwam. And 
here the first settlers erected their dwellings. In the year 
1634? a bridge was built over the river near the mill; and 
from this time the travel was especially directed over Milton 
Hill. At first, and for more than twenty years, the way was 
only a bridle-path or common drift-way without definite boun¬ 
daries except as the first adventurers could find the easiest pas- 











104 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


sage. The principal evidence goes to show that this first bridge 
was but a foot-bridge, and that all other passage of the river 
was by the ford near the bridge, or by the ferries. 

FERRIES. 

To accommodate the travel between the Bay and Plymouth 
Colonies the General Court ordered in 1635 that John Holman 
should keep a ferry at Neponset between the Captain’s Point 
and Mr. Newbury’s Creek. Again, in 1638 Bray Wilkins, of 
Unquity, received a license from the General Court to run a 
ferry-boat from a point of land between Granite and Neponset 
bridges called “ The Ridge,” (now plainly seen) to Davenport’s 
creek, for which he was to receive a penny a person. 

Not till the year 1654 was a definite road laid out from 
Braintree (now Quincy) to Roxbury over Milton Hill, and in 
the direct line which it now occupies. Thus for the long 
period of one hundred and seventy years, or until the opening 
of Neponset bridge in 1805, the road over Milton Hill was the 
great thoroughfare for travel between Boston and all points 
south, embracing the whole of Plymouth County. 

NEW INHABITANTS. 

The precinct inhabitants of whom mention is made in a pre¬ 
vious chapter, were followed by valuable accessions to our 
numbers from Braintree and Dorchester. Most of these settled 
in the easterly part of the territory near this road. They were 
doubtless brought into this section from consideration of safety, 
and of social and neighborly intercourse; and also from its 
proximity to the water, and to the open and cleared lands by 
the marshes, and the “ Indian fields ” along the route from the 
Bay to the Plymouth Colonies. Several of the inhabitants in 
this neighborhood, it is known, were engaged at some point on 
the river in building the “ shallops” then in use. Among those 
thus occupied were William Salsbury, Anthony Newton, Walter 
Morey and Nicholas Ellen. Exemption from taxation, and free 
trade with all the world, stimulated greatly this enterprise 
throughout the Colony. 

Here was one of the public landing-places of the town. An¬ 
other landing-place was located at that point on the river after¬ 
wards occupied by the Badcock and Briggs shipyard. This was 
found unsuitable, the approach thereto being difficult by reason 
of the steep and winding road, and on petition of John Gill, in 
1658, it was changed to its present site near the bridge. 


MILTON HILL. 


105 


Among the new inhabitants were Stephen Kinsley, An¬ 
thony Gulliver, and Henry Crane. 

STEPHEN KINSLEY. 

Stephen Kinsley received a grant of land at Mount Wollas¬ 
ton in 1639. He was one of six members who formed the 
Church at Braintree. He signed the Church covenant at its 
formation and was appointed Ruling Elder. He represented 
Braintree at the General Court before moving to Unquity. In 
1656 he purchased a large tract of land of Hutchinson, in con¬ 
nection with his son-in-law, Anthony Gulliver. He was one of 
the three petitioners for the incorporation of Milton in 1662, 
and drew the petition. He was the first representative of the 
town to the General Court in 1666, and a trustee of the Church 
in 1664. He is generally spoken of as Elder Kinsley, but is some¬ 
times styled.Rev. Stephen Kinsley, although never ordained to 
the ministry. The record of this excellent man is worthy of 
particular notice. He was a man of strong religious character, 
and of decided ability. In the trials and conflicts of the early 
residents he seems to have been the guide and comforter. Years 
before the corporate existence of Milton, or the establishment 
of a Church, he conducted religious services on the Sabbath with 
his friends and neighbors in the little meeting-house, and con¬ 
tinued the duty several years after incorporation. 

We have no knowledge of the exact date of his removal to 
Unquity; it is, however, natural to conclude that he came 
with his sons-in-law, Anthony Gulliver and Henry Crane. His 
house was on the hill, a little to the east of the residence of 
Cornelius Babcock, on the north side of Adams street. The 
cellar was filled up by Mr. Babcock, the present owner of the 
estate. Within a few years a spring of water remarkably pure 
and excellent has been discovered between the cellar and the 
street, where the pump now stands. This spring, though long 
covered by the soil of the hill, was found walled up, and with 
steps carefully laid, to facilitate its use to the early inhabitants. 
In his will, proved 1673, he mentions the children of his de¬ 
ceased sons Samuel, John, and three daughters. 

ANTHONY GULLIVER. 

Anthony Gulliver was born in 1619, and died in Milton Nov. 
28,1706, aged 87 years. He removed from Braintree to Un 
quity in 1646. He bought land of Edward and Richard 
Hutchinson, sons and heirs of Richard Hutchinson, bounded 


106 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


north by Gulliver’s creek, to which he gave the name. He 
married Elenor, daughter of Stephen Kinsley, and had five 
sons and four daughters. Lydia, b. 1651, m. Jas. Leonard; 
Samuel, b. 1653, d. 1676 ; Jonathan, b. Oct. 27,1659; Stephen, 
b. 1663; John, b. Dec. 3, 1669; Hannah, m. Tucker ; Mary, m. 
Atherton ; Elizabeth, b. Nov. 6, 1671; Nathaniel, b. Nov. 10, 
1675, m. Hanna Billings. 

His house, built on Squantum street, on the north side of the 
brook, was taken down about thirty-eight years ago. The 
imported brick used in the chimney bore date of 1680. This 
house was known later as the Rawson house, — David Rawson 
having married into the Gulliver family. 

At an early date Anthony Gulliver came into possession of a 
large tract of land in the central part of the town, most of which 
is now embraced in the estate of Col. H. S. Russell. This land 
was long owned and occupied by the Gulliver family, and here 
or on land adjacent thereto some of his descendants have lived 
ever since. 

His second son, Lieut. Jonathan Gulliver, one of the lead¬ 
ing men of his day, married Theodora, daughter of Rev. Peter 
Thacher, Milton’s first pastor. 

Anthony Gulliver was the progenitor of a long line of solid 
and trustworthy men and women, who have been conspicuous 
in the history of the Church and Town of Milton, holding many 
of the important offices, and faithfully meeting the trusts im¬ 
posed on them for nearly two centuries. The family is still 
represented among our citizens. This name appears under 
various forms of spelling, as: Caliphar, Colliford, Cullifer, Gull- 
wer, Gouliver, Gulliwer, Gullifer, Gulliver. 


gulliver’s travels. 

It is said that Dean Swift received the suggestion of his 
“ Gulliver’s Travels ” from one of this family. Capt. Lemuel 
Gulliver, who, according to James M. Robbins, once lived at 
Algerine Corner, returned to Ireland in 1723, and described the 
country and its productions and resources to his neighbor, Jona¬ 
than Swift, in the most extravagant and high-wrought colors ; 
in which line of description he was favored with especial gifts. 
The frogs, he declared, reached up to his knees, and had musical 
voices like the twang of a guitar, and the mosquitoes had bills 
as large as darning-needles ; from these and similar exaggerated 
stories, the fertile mind of the great writer conceived and 
wrought out the famous “ Gulliver’s Travels,” which appeared 




MILTON HILL. 


107 


in 1726, exhibiting a singular “union of misanthropy, satire, 
irony, ingenuity, and humor.” There is a letter of Pope to 
Swift, dated 23d March, 1727-8 [Bishop Warburton’s Ed. 1766, 
Yol. 9, 76], as follows: — 

I send you a very odd thing, a paper printed in Boston in N.E. wherein 
you’ll find areal person, a member of their Parliament of the name of Jona¬ 
than Gulliver. The accident is very singular that the two names 'should 
be united. 

Our Jonathan Gulliver represented the town of Milton at 
the General Court in 1727, and received his name in 1659, 
before either of the wits was born; although Pope facetiously 
adds that perchance he was an Ana-Baptist, — not christened 
till of full age. 


DAVID RAWS ON. 

The Anthony Gulliver house passed into the hands of David 
Rawson, son of William and Anne [Glover] Rawson, who was 
son of Secretary Edward Rawson. David Rawson married the 
daughter of Capt. Jonathan Gulliver, and obtained the prop¬ 
erty through his father-in-law. David Rawson was horn 
1683, and died in Milton 1759. His son I}avid represented 
Milton at the General Court 1774, and was a member of the 
Provincial Congress at Salem 1775. He was a prominent 
and important man in the town during the eventful years of 
the Revolution. His name often appears as Moderator of those 
town-meetings when great principles were asserted and main¬ 
tained. He died in Milton 1790, aged 76 years. 


HENRY CRANE. 

Henry Crane was born in England 1621, and died in Milton 
March 21, 1709, age 85 years. He married, first, in England, 

Tabitha-; and, second, Elizabeth Kinsley, in Unquity, 

1655; she was the daughter of Stephen Kinsley. He had ten 
children: Henry, b. 1656 ; Benjamin, b. 1657 ; Stephen ; John, 
b. 1659; Elizabeth, b. Aug. 14, 1663; Ebenezer, b, Aug. 10, 
1665; Anna, C. M. 1687; Mary, b. Nov. 21, 1666; Mercy, b. 
Jan. 1, 1668; Samuel, b. June 8, 1669. Henry Crane was an 
iron-worker. His house was situated on the north side of 
Adams street at East Milton, in the rear and between the 
houses of Wm. Q. Baxter and E. B. Andrews ; at a later date the 
Pierce house was built between the Crane house and the street. 




108 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


The open plain in that section was called Crane’s Plain. He 
may have been engaged as part owner or workman in the 
iron foundry established on Furnace brook., Quincy, in 1643. 
Bog ore for these works was found in the low land east of his 
house, and in various places in Milton. His children were born 
in Milton, enjoying only the early and common advantages of a 
farmer’s home, and the simple education of a small country town ; 
and yet in the stern encounter with the dark and troublous 
times in which they lived they evinced a spirit of real patriot¬ 
ism. Benjamin, the second of the ten children, when only eigh¬ 
teen years of age, enlisted in the company of Captain Johnson, 
King Philip’s war, and was severely wounded in the desperate 
battle of Narragansett Swamp, Dec. 19, 1675. 

Ebenezer Crane, the sixth of the family, in December, 1698, 
when twenty years of age, married Mary Tolman, daughter of 
Thomas Tolman, of Dorchester. In August, 1690, he enlisted in 
the Dorchester and Milton company of seventy-five men, with 
Sir William Phips’ disastrous expedition to Quebec. Of the 
two thousand comprising the land force, two hundred were lost, 
and of the two hundred, forty-six belonged to this company. 
Ebenezer Crane was one of the twenty-nine that returned. 

Abijah, the twelfth child of Ebenezer, was born in Milton, 
Nov. 2,1714. He.married, first, Sarah Field, of Braintree; and, 
second, Sarah Beverly. His third son was John, born in Milton, 
Dec. 7,1744. In 1759 his father, Abijah, was drafted as a soldier 
in the French war, but being a sickly man, John, then but fifteen 
years old, went in his father’s stead and was commended for 
bravery. In 1769 John Crane assisted Gilbert Deblois in 
planting the “ Paddock Elms,” which came from Mr. Robbins’ 
farm on Brush Hill. In 1767 he was in Boston, where he 
lived eighteen years on Tremont, opposite Hollis street. In 
1773 he was one of the ‘f Boston Tea Party,” and the only man 
wounded. In 1774 he was commissioned Lieutenant of Artillery 
in R. I. In 1775 he marched on Boston with the Rhode 
Island army. He was one of the party with Maj. Joseph Yose 
that burned Boston Light; 1776, he assisted in the siege of 
Boston at Cambridge and Dorchester Heights, as Major in 
Knox artillery; August, he was at the battle of Brooklyn; 
September, he lost a portion of his foot by a cannon shot 
from the “Rose” frigate in the East river, and nearly died 
of lock-jaw; December, he was in Boston building powder- 
mills ; 1777, he was appointed Colonel of the new Massachu¬ 
setts regiment, Colonel Knox regiment reorganized; he was 
at the battles of Monmouth, Brandywine, Germantown, and 
Red Bank; 1780, he took part in the unsuccessful pursuit 




MILTON HILL. 


109 


of Benedict Arnold; 1783, he was commissioned Brigadier- 
General. He died at Whiting, Me., Aug. 21, 1805. 


CRANE MEMORIAL HALL, QTJINCY. 

In the central part of Quincy may be seen a stately and 
beautiful building, erected for the benefit of the town in 1881 
by the fa mil y of the third Thomas Crane, who was of the fifth 
generation in direct descent from Henry Crane, of Milton. 

It is called the “ Crane Memorial Hall.” Located about two 
miles from the ancestral home, it stands a fitting memorial of 
this worthy and excellent family, whose branches have spread 
out through this whole section and more or less oyer the entire 
country. 


GOVERNOR JONATHAN BELCHER. 

At a later period the neighborhood of these families was en¬ 
livened by the advent among them of Gov. Jonathan Belcher. 
Governor Belcher was son of Andrew Belcher, of Cambridge, 
bom Jan. 8, 1681; graduated at Harvard College 1699; and 
died at Elizabethtown, N. J., Aug. 31, 1757. 

He travelled abroad for many years; became a merchant in 
Boston; and was soon conspicuous in political life. 

In 1728 he went, as agent of the Province, to England, and 
while there was commissioned by the King, whose acquaintance 
he had formed while he was Hanoverian Prince, as Governor of 
Massachusetts, Jan. 8, 1729-30. 

He was sent home on the “ Blanford,” man-of-war, and was 
welcomed at Boston with great rejoicing. 1 

The picture of Governor Belcher here presented is from a 
painting in oil by Liopoldt, the property of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society. 


1 Governor Belcher arrived at Castle William (now Fort Independence) Saturday night, 
Aug. 8, 1730. He attended divine service at Castle William on the Sabbath and landed 
Monday morning at the end of Long wharf. 

Turrets and Balconies were hung with carpets, and almost every vessel was blazoned 
with a rich variety of colors. Between the hours of ten and eleven, His Excellency was 
pleased to embark for the place of his wonted residence, with a great number of Boats and 
Pinnaces, to attend him, while his Majestys Cannon were playing to inform the Town of 
his approach. Several Standards and Ensigns were erected on the top of Fort Hill and at 
Clarks Wharffe at the north part of the Town; and a number of cannon planted, which 
were all handsomely discharged at the arrival of His Excellency, and followed with such 
hurras as inspired the whole town : the bells all ringing on the joyful occasion. While the 
pomp was making its orderly procession, the guns which were bursting in every part of the 
Town were answered, in mild and rumbling peals, by the Artillery of Heaven which intro¬ 
duced a refreshing shower that succeeded a very dry season. 

From the Court House His Excellency was conducted by his Civil and Military Attend¬ 
ants to a Splendid Entertainment at the “ Bunch of Grapes” and after dinner to his own 
pleasant and beautiful seat. —New England Weekly Journal , Aug. n, 1730. 



110 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


During his residence in Europe Governor Belcher formed an in¬ 
timate acquaintance with Dr. Isaac Watts, the poet, who com¬ 
memorated the appointment of his friend to this honorable posi¬ 
tion by a very beautiful ode, which we copy in full from the 
“New England Weekly Journal ” of Aug. 3, 1730. 

To his Excellency Jonathan Belcher, Esq., in London, Appointed by Ms Majesty King 
George II. to the Government of New England, on his return home. 

Go favourite man : Spread to the winds thy sails ; 

The western ocean smiles; the eastern gales, 

Attend thy hour. Ten thousand vows arise, 

T’ensure for Thee, the waves, for thee the skies. 

And waft thee homeward. On thy Native Strand 
Thy Nation throngs to hail thy Bark to Land. 

She sent thee Envoy to secure her Laws, 

And her lov’d Freedom, Heaven succeed the Cause, 

And make thee Euler there. Thy name unites 
Thy Princes Honors, and thy Peoples Rights. 

Twice has thy Zeal been to thy Sovereign shown, 

In German Realms, while yet the British Throne, 

Sigh’d for the House of Brunswick; There thy knee 
Paid its first debt to future Majesty, 

And own’d the Title, ere the Crown had shed 
Its radiant Honors, round the Royal Fathers head. 

Long has thy Nation loved thee; Sage in youth, 

In manhood nobly bold and firm to Truth; 

Shining in arts of Peace ; yet ’midst a Storm 
Skillful t’ advise, and vigorous to perform ; 

Kind to the world, and duteous to the Skies, 

Distress and want to thee direct their eyes; 

Thy life a public Good. What heavenly Ray, 

What courteous Spirit, pointed out the way, 

To make New Albion blest, when George the Just 
Gave up the Joyful Nation to thy Trust? 

Great George rewards thy Zeal in happy hour 
With a bright Beam of his Imperial Power. 


Go Belcher Go !; Assume thy glorious Sway; 

Faction expires, and Boston longs t’obey. 

Beneath thy Rule may Truth and Virtue spread, 

Divine Religion raise aloft her head, 

And deal her Blessings round. Let India hear, 

That Jesus reigns, and her wild Tribes prepare, 

For Heavenly Joys. Thy Power shall rule by Love ; 
So reigns our Jesus in his Realms above. 

Illustrious Pattern! Let Him fix thine Eye, 

And guide thine Hand. He from the world on high, 
Came once an Envoy, and returned a King : 

The Sons of Light in throngs their Homage bring 
While Glory, Life and Joy beneath his Sceptre Spring. 


March 31 , 1730 . 


I. Watts. 











110 


During his 
timate acqua 
memorated t 
tion by a ve 
“ New Engh 


To his Excellency 


Go favourite man : Sptfejid tp the wind- • 

Attend thy hour. Ten thousand vyum-ari 
T J ensure for Thee, the vqiVes, forth*'- tl- 
And waft thee homeward. On thy'Native S -,*.m 
Thy Nation throngs to hail thy Baric aiiW' 

She sent thee Envoy to secure WLa^s, 

And her lov’d Freedom, HeavehVmuie6(l 
And make thee Ruler thqrfc. Thy name unit#* 
Thy Princes Honors, and th&Peopics .Right-. 




March 31 


I. Watts. 












MILTON HILL. 


Ill 


Governor Belcher purchased the Holman estate situated on the 
south-westerly side of Adams street, now owned in part by Mrs. 
A. H. Payson, between the years 1728 and 1780. This was his 
suburban residence during the term of eleven years in which 
he was governor of this Province. His advent here, at nearly 
the same time with Provincial Treasurer Foye, who was 
nephew of the governor, changed in no small degree the char¬ 
acter of this portion of the town. He projected large improve¬ 
ments on his lands ; and in preparing to build his mansion, an 
avenue fifty feet or more in width, and an eighth of a mile long, 
was graded and finished from the hill, where the mansion was 
to stand, to the street. And this work he required to be exe¬ 
cuted with so great nicety and precision that friends and 
visitors on their first entrance upon the avenue might “ see the 
gleaming of his gold kneebuckles ” as he stood on the distant 
piazza. The outline of the avenue is now plainly visible south 
of the brook on the south-westerly side of Adams street. 
Near the head of the avenue a barn was built, but the plan for 
the mansion was never carried out. 

The work of grading was accomplished by the Provincial 
troops, which were marched out to his Milton lands by regi¬ 
ments on drill and fatigue duty. A regiment moved from Bos¬ 
ton on Monday, camped on his grounds for the week, and were 
relieved by a second regiment for the subsequent week. 

The necessary retinue of servants; the showy equipage 
attendant, in those times, on high official station; the move¬ 
ment of soldiers; the coming and going of messengers; and 
the formal and informal visits of officials and ambassadors, 
which are sure to follow so important a person, even to his 
retirement, — all these gave unwonted life and importance to the 
hitherto quiet town. 1 The governor seems not to have been 
averse to the customary parade; his costume was fully up to 
the requirement of the times. In portraits now extant he ap¬ 
pears with the Colonial wig ; velvet coat and waistcoat decked 
with rich gold lace; lace ruffles at the neck and wrists; with 
the attendant small clothes and low shoes, adorned with gold 
knee and shoe buckles. His person and presence were grace¬ 
ful and pleasing. He was a man of society and of affairs, and 
spent his money with an elegant liberality. 

Official duties kept the governor for a greater part of the 

1 In May, 1740, Governor Belcher’s servant ran away and was thus advertised : — 

“ The Governor’s Negro Juha having absented himself, it is desired who ever may 
find him would convey him home. He had on when he went away a Gold laced Hat, a 
Cinnamon colored Coat with large flat brass buttons, and cuffed with red Cloth, a dark 
colored Waist-coat edged with a worsted Lace, leather Breeches, yarn Stockings, a pair of 
trimmed Pumps, with a very large pair of flowered Brass Buckles.” 




112 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


time at head-quarters in Boston ; and yet he failed not to iden¬ 
tify himself, in some measure, with the people and the interests 
of Milton. Here was his church home ; and when at his coun¬ 
try-seat on the Lord’s Day, he attended worship in his own 
town, and in communion with his fellow-citizens. The conven¬ 
tional decorum of colonial days extended even to the place of 
religious worship, where the pews were formally assigned, 
according to rank and family, by a committee annually ap¬ 
pointed at the town-meeting. Our town records point out 
the exact position of his pew. 

“Aug. 20, 1739. Yoteclto give liberty for the exchanging the present 
Ministerial Pew being the first oirtne easterly side of the southerly doors, 
for that which belongs to the estate of his Excellency Governor Belcher, 
being the tenth, the third on the westerly end of the "Pulpit, and that the 
late Ministerial Pew so exchanged remain to his Excellency Governor 
Belcher’s Estate on the same footing as the rest of the pews in our meet¬ 
ing house. Nehemiah Clap, Town Clerk.” 

MILE-STONES. 

Governor Belcher set up a line of mile-stones from the Town 
House in Boston, to his Milton estate. A platway drawn by 
James Blake, indicating the position and line of these stones is 
in the possession of Edmund J. Baker. One of the Belcher 
stones is now built into the wall on the easterly side of Adams 
street, near the avenue to Col. O. W. Peabody’s mansion, 
marked thus : “ 8 Miles to B. Town House. The lower way. 

1734.” 

Another stone, but not of the Belcher line, is seen near the 
residence of Hon. J. M. Churchill marked thus: “B. 7. 1722”; 
and a third on the same side of Adams street near the house of 
Mr. C. E. C. Breck, marked thus: “B. 8. 1728.” The two stones 
of 1722 and 1723 must have been placed by some other agency, 
as Governor Belcher was not interested in Milton at so early a 
date. The stone near Colonel Peabody’s is the only one of his 
line now appearing in Milton. Another Belcher stone origi¬ 
nally stood a few feet north of the avenue to Mrs. Payson’s 
house. 

There is a stone of the same line built into the wall on the 
south side of Adams street, Dorchester, a few rods from the end 
of Richmond street, and others may be found at points nearer 
Boston. 

Paul Dudley placed a line of mile-stones from Boston through 
Roxbury to the Dorchester line, the last of which, marked P. D., 
now stands in the sidewalk on the north side of Blue Hill ave¬ 
nue near its junction with Warren street. These were continued 



MILTON HILL. 


113 


by some agency through Dorchester. One is seen near School 
street, Dorchester, and another a mile nearer Milton, by Fuller 
street. This line was extended into Milton. One is near Judge 
Churchill’s; the last is the stone near Mr. Breck’s at East Milton. 
A mile farther east, in Quincy, near the Newcomb estate, is an¬ 
other stone, marked “ B. 9. J. N. 1730.,” and these way-marks may 
have extended even to Plymouth, on this old way, which was 
then the only route to Boston. 

Governor Belcher held office for eleven years, 1730-1741, and 
was succeeded by Gov. William Shirley May 16, 1741. He 
went to England again in 1744, and in 1747 was made governor of 
New Jersey, an office which he filled till his death, Aug. 31,1757. 
While in New Jersey he was especially interested in the foun¬ 
dation of Princeton College; he secured its charter 1754, and ren¬ 
dered valuable service to that institution. 

He married, 1706, Mary, daughter of Lieut. Gov. Wm. Par¬ 
tridge, of New Hampshire, who died in 1736; and as second wife, 
in 1748, Mrs. Teal, of London, who survived her husband, and 
at his decease removed to his Milton estate. 

His son Andrew continued to reside on the Milton, estate 
after his father’s removal from Milton. He married Miss Teal, 
daughter of his father’s second wife. He was of Harvard Col¬ 
lege, 1724. He represented the town at the General Court from 
1759 to 1764; was register of Probate for Suffolk 1739-1754; was 
a member of the Council 1765-7; and died here Jan. 24, 1771, 
aged 65 years. 

On the 27th of January, 1776, the Belcher house was burned. 

Jan. 28, 1776. Yesterday afternoon Madam Belcher’s house at Milton was 
destroyed by fire. I hear she saved her furniture and effects. — Diary of 
Ezekiel Price. 

Madam Belcher and the widow of Andrew, the only occu¬ 
pants of the house at the time, passed the winter with their 
friends, the Miss Murrays, on Brush Hill, in the Robbins house. 

The work of rebuilding was at once commenced, and the 
house, now owned and occupied by Mrs. Payson, was completed 
the next summer, which gives it an antiquity of one hundred 
and eleven years. 

Madam Belcher soon after died, and the younger Mrs. Bel¬ 
cher removed to England. 

ROWE FAMILY. 

The Belcher estate then passed into the hands of John Rowe, 
Esq., a prominent and wealthy merchant of Boston, with whose 
descendants it still remains. 



114 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


At his decease the personal estate descended by will to his 
widow, also the use and income of the real estate during her 
life. At the death of the widow the real estate passed by will 
to the children of his brother Jacob. Jacob, with his family, 
took possession of the Milton property, and he became a resident 
of the town, where he died, in 1814. He had two sons, John 
and Joseph, and three daughters. John Rowe died May 24, 
1812, leaving two sons, John and George, and three daughters, 
Mrs. Webster, Mrs. White, and Mrs. Payson, the youngest of 
whom, Mrs. Payson, alone survives and occupies the Rowe 
house. Joseph Rowe, Esq., died in Milton March, 1856, aged 86 
years. He was a lawyer by profession, acute and well-read. 
The weight of his influence was brought to bear freely and uni¬ 
formly in support of the true and the right among his fellow- 
citizens. Possessed of a large estate he had a larger heart, ever 
open to the wants of those less favored. 

Goldsmith’s lines were very fittingly repeated at his funeral: 

“ His home was known to all the vagrant train ; 

He chid their wanderings but relieved their pain. 

Thus, to relieve the wretched was his pride, 

And e’en his failings leaned to virtue’s side.” 

Josejrh Rowe, in his will, bequeathed the sum of one thousand 
dollars in trust to the minister and deacons of the First Evan¬ 
gelical Church of Milton, for the benefit of the poor of Milton, 
the interest of which is annually distributed among the poor of 
the town. 

Mary Rowe, who died Jan. 11, 1852, four years before her 
brother Joseph, bequeathed a like sum in the same trust, and for 
the same purpose. Each of these benefactors “being dead yet 
speaketh” with kindly and sympathizing words to the poor, 
who are “ always with us.” 

WILLIAM FOYE. 

Provincial Treasurer William Foye was born in Charlestown 
1681, and died in Milton March 21, 1759, aged 78 years. He 
had three children. William, graduated at Harvard 1785 ; died 
at Halifax 1771. Mary, married Rev. Samuel Cooper of Brattle 
Street Church, and died in 1775. Miss Elizabeth Foye died at 
Milton, Oct. 10, 1807, aged 89 years. Dr. Samuel Gardner, 
Harvard, 1746, married Mrs. Cooper’s daughter Mary; he died 
Jan. 18, 1778, and she died June 24, 1778. Mrs. John Amory 
was daughter of Dr. Gardner. The mother of Treasurer Foye 
was sister of Governor Belcher. He bought the Daniels estate 
in Milton and built on the site of the old Daniels house. The 




MILTON HILL. 


115 


deed is recorded with. Suffolk Deeds, Lib. 45, November, 1733. His 
house, a large old English mansion, and one of the finest in the 
colony, was built in 1734. A picture of the Foye house is here 
given in connection with the house of Theodore R. Glover, built 
on the same site, one hundred and fifty years later. Here Mrs. 
Foye, who survived her husband, continued to reside. During 
the war she left Milton because of her sympathy with her friend 
and neighbor, Governor Hutchinson, and removed to Stoughton, 
returning to the old homestead after peace was declared. In her 
absence from Milton her house was occupied by Rufus Pierce, the 
father of Mrs. Samuel Littlefield. Mr. Pierce had just married 
Elizabeth, daughter of Josiah How. He had begun to build the 
cottage next the East Milton railroad station, but abandoned it 
because of the war. After Mrs. Foye’s return he finished his 
house and lived there during his life, for many years keeping 
tavern. A deed of the Foye estate was given by John Gardner 
to Daniel Briggs, Sept. 24,1805. As Mrs. Foye’s granddaughter, 
Mary Cooper, married Dr. Samuel Gardner, the presumption is 
that it remained in the family until that time. 

SAMUEL LITTLEFIELD. 

For fifty years the Foye house was the home of Mr. Samuel 
Littlefield and family. He occupied the house from 1824; pur¬ 
chased the estate of the heirs of Daniel Briggs in 1829, and 
lived there until his death in 1874, at the age of 95 years. 
After the death of Miss Sarah Littlefield, in 1877, it passed out 
of the family. The old house 1 was taken down in 1879, and 
upon the spot now stands the beautiful villa owned and oc¬ 
cupied by Theodore R. Glover. This is the third house built 
upon this site since the settlement of Milton. 


1 The following lines, taken from the “ Boston Transcript,” were written by a member 
of the Littlefield family after a visit to the deserted old house. 


THE OLD HOMESTEAD. 

An old colonial house; it stood 
In grandeur once respected; 

Our home for fifty years, now stands, 
With walls and grounds neglected. 

The large old rooms with ceilings low, 
In which we tread so faintly; 

The solemn echoes through its walls, 
Where carvings gleam so quaintly: — 

The sunbeams, dimly through the panes 
The dark, old wainscots lighting: — 

The chimney swallows on its hearth, 
New homes with old uniting: — 




116 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


NOTABLE EVENTS. 

This is a noted and memorable spot. In the first house 
built here, Catherine Grenaway, wife of William Daniels, was 
accustomed to gather the Indians living on the hill, and in 
various parts of the town, for their enlightenment and instruc¬ 
tion. This was continued for three years, 1650-3, until its 
beneficial influence and effect attracted official notice, as ap¬ 
pears by the following record: —- 

On September 24th, 1653, at the meeting of the Commissioners of the 
United Colonies holden at Boston, recorded. Having learned that the wife 
of William Daniels hath for three years past bestowed much of her time in 
teaching several Indians to read," think fit to allow her £12, for the time 
past; and to encourage her to continue the same course, that more of the 
Indians may be taught by her, think fit to allow her £3 more, before hand, 
towards another year. 


WHITFIELD. 

In the summer of 1771, on the first day of September, George 
Whitfield preached under a large elm in front of the Foye 
house. The friends of Whitfield endeavored to secure the meet¬ 
ing-house for this service, but Rev. Mr. Robbins, in concert 
with many of the clergy of that day, was reluctant to yield to 


The fresh, unkept green lawn, with shade 
And sunshine covered over, 

Where lay the budding prairie rose, 
Down weeping in the clover. 

And where the belle-of-Baltimore 
Her grief to earth confiding, 

The myrtle, ’neath her bending form 
Its modest blossoms hiding: — 

Where columbine and flower-de-luce, 

As if with life to rally, 

Are struggling in the thick tall grass, 
With lilies of the valley. 

Here generations come and go : 

It waits in calm reposing; 

The joys, the hopes, the griefs of all, 
Within its walls enclosing. 

It was a home ere Whitfield preached; 
And Indians round it sported; 

The cannon’s peel for Bunker Hill 
Upon its walls reported. 

The hale, old house! long may it stand, 
Beneath its spreading elms! 

And warm and cheer those yet to come, 
As those in far-otf realms/ 


Milton, June 3, 1878. 


L. J. G. L. 

























MILTON HILL. 


117 


the new order of things. Whitfield is reported to have said 
that “ true religion would not flourish in Milton until they got 
rid of that minister.” The position and surroundings were 
well adapted to accommodate the great numbers said to have 
been present at the service. A platform was erected in front 
of the house, and the people were gathered in the shade of the 
wide-spreading tree, and along the gently descending grounds 
within easy hearing of the wonderful preacher, and under the 
full sway of his overpowering eloquence. It was the largest re¬ 
ligious assembly ever gathered in Milton. At his farewell ser¬ 
mon on Boston Common, the number estimated to have been 
present was twenty or thirty thousand. He was entertained at 
the hospitable mansion of Madam Foye and Miss Betty Foye, 
both of whom were then living. 

The gale of 1815 made havoc of the old Whitfield elm; 
limbs were torn from it making, when cut up, four cords of 
wood. In the memorable gale of April, 1851, which destroyed 
Minot’s Light, it was blown down. On the morning after the 
gale, Daniel Webster and his wife, driving from Marshfield to 
Boston, over Milton Hill, met the obstruction in the road 
caused by this fallen tree, not yet wholly removed, and were 
forced to turn back and take the road by Milton cemetery. 

BADCOCK FAMILY. 

The tradition is that a widow Badcock came from Essex, 
England, with her sons, George, Robert, and James, in the ship 
Anne, 1623. Robert bought land of John Glover in 1648, and 
seems to have been the first to locate here, west of Milton Hill, 
near the river. He is included among the notices of the Pre¬ 
cinct inhabitants. James settled in Plymouth, where he re¬ 
mained for the residue of his life and died. John, of Westerly, 
R. I., a son of James, named two of his sons George and Robert; 
and James, a third son of John, came for a wife on a pilgrimage 
to Milton, doubtless the land of his cousins. 

James Badcock of Stoningtown married, June 12, 1706, Sarah Yose, of 
Milton. — [Journal of Bev. Peter Thacker.] 

The first we hear of George Badcock is from a conveyance to 
him, by deed on parchment dated March 31, 1654, of about one 
hundred acres of upland by Richard Mather, teacher of the 
Church of Dorchester. 

_ One side of the tract lies next the land of Richard Collicot on the east 
side; the other side next the lands of John Wiswall, Thomas Wiswall, 


118 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


and others. Also another lottextending to Braintry line. Also a “ parole of 
marsh land lying one side next Mr. Wilsons farme the other side next the 
marsh of Mr. Hutchinson, one end butting Mr. Hutchinsons land, the other 
end the marsh of John Gill.” 

This large tract of land was situated west of the Collicot and 
Holman lands, extending oyer Pleasant street to the Braintree 
line. A part of this tract, or land near this has remained in the 
Badcock family from the day of its purchase to the present 
time. 

George Badcock died in 1671, and in his will, written Septem¬ 
ber 26th, he gives Benjamin, his eldest son, land in Milton and 
Dorchester. Benjamin married Hannah, the daughter of Will¬ 
iam Daniels, Feb. 11,1674. In 1682 he purchased land of Rich¬ 
ard Collicot, lying opposite the Daniels estate and near the land 
bequeathed to him by his father. 1 

Enoch Badcock, the second son of George, married Susannah 
Gregory; he died in Milton 25th May, 1695. He was a ship¬ 
wright, and had his ship-yard on land of Joseph Belcher near the 
water, the same afterwards occupied by Daniel Briggs; there 
he also built his house. Aug. 10, 1693, Rev. Joseph Belcher 
secures to Enoch Badcock a two years’ notice for removal of his 
house, stock and timber, under bond of ,£200. In the year 1693, 
Enoch Badcock built the ship “ Mary & Sarah, ” for Thomas 
Cooper and William Harris, for the sum of £540 15s. 

William, the only son of Enoch, married Elizabeth. They had 
three sons and five daughters. He also was a ship-carpenter, 
and died 15th October, 1732, and his wife in 1739. Their second 
son, William, of the same trade with his father and grandfather, 
on the 17th of September, 1740, after the decease of his mother, 
assigns and quits claim to his elder brother, Nathan, a tanner, 
all his right and interest in the estate, real and personal, of their 
father William, “excepting, and always leaving thereout, to 
me, my heirs and assigns, the house and land adjoining to Milton 
Landing place.” He married Hannah Blake, 1751. Their 
children were, Eunice, b. March 18, 1758, m. Dr. Samuel K. 
Glover ; Elizabeth, b. June 14, 1754, m. John Swift; Nancy, b. 
Nov. 17, 1752, m. Major Phinehas Paine ; Bathsheba, b. Mar. 17, 
1761, d. April 28, 1792. The house reserved from his father’s 
estate, and doubtless built before the decease of his father, which 
occurred in 1732, is the one known as the “ Stanley house,” now 
owned and in part occupied by Mr. Samuel Everett, which 
gives it an antiquity of more than one hundred and fifty years. 


1 In Blake’s survey of the lower road from Boston Town House to Governor Belcher’s 
farm, 1747, appeared a Badcock house on the south side of Adams street nearly opposite 
the Stephen Kinsley house. 




MILTON HILL. 


119 


Nathan Babcock, eldest son of William, son of Enoch, born 
May 15, 1716, was a tanner by trade. He married Susannah 

-, and died in Milton, of small-pox, Jan. 29,1777, aged 61. 

In February, 1752, Jonathan Copeland and Betty Copeland, of 
Bridgewater, conveyed to him eight acres of land in Milton, being 
a part of the homestead of John Kinsley, deceased. (Suffolk Reg¬ 
istry, Lib. 82, Fol. 261.) On this tract he erected the house now 
owned by his descendant, Cornelius Babcock. His eldest son, 
Capt. William Babcock, was born here, and married Sarah 
Tucker, of Milton. In the war of the Revolution he was cap¬ 
tain in Col. Solomon Lovell’s regiment; his company of fifty 
were mostly Milton men. They marched to Morristown Dec. 
18, 1776, and were discharged March 17, 1777. He was also 
captain in the regiment of Col. Samuel Pierce from Feb. 3, 
1778, to April 8. In his company were Lieut. David 
Tucker; Sergeants Rufus Pierce, John Adams and Andrew Can- 
nady ; Corporals Elisha Yose, Lemuel Morton, Silas Hunt, Na¬ 
thaniel Shepard, and thirty-nine privates, all Milton men, as 
follows : — 


Jonathan Yose, 
Jabez Sumner, 
Noah Dammon, 
Joshua Glover, 
Ralph Crane, 
Joseph Sumner, 
Ebenezer Crane, 
Zachariah Bassett, 
Howard Bassett, 
William Gould, 
Seth Smith, 

John Babcock, 
Elijah Crane, 
Samuel Kilton, 
Seth Tucker, 
Lemuel Hunt, 
Simeon Horton, 
Nathaniel Jones, 
Reuben Gulliver, 


George Babcock, 
Thomas Kingman, 
Isaac Copeland, 
Lemuel Billings, 
Joseph Puffer, 
Nathaniel Crane, 
Asa Horton, 
Samuel Crehore, 
William McKinsey, 
Samuel Fenno, 
Jesse Houghton, 
Uriah Snow, 

Seth Tucker, 
Joshua Kingsbury, 
Amariah Sumner, 
James Ford, 
Stephen Swift, 
Elisha Tucker, 
Nathaniel Yose. 


They were stationed eleven miles from home. 

Josiah Babcock, the youngest son of Captain William, was born 
in Milton in 1782. He married Nancy Gulliver. Their children 
were : Ann Gulliver, b. March 28,1807, m. Joshua Emerson, Aug. 
29, 1830, d. Nov. 16, 1852; Josiah, b. Jan. 19, 1810, m. Marga¬ 
ret Howe Fenno, June 27, 1841, d. Sept. 4, 1863; Samuel, b. 
Nov. 5, 1812, m. Lydia Thorpe, Dec. 4, 1844, d. Dec. 29,1880; 
Jeremiah William, b. Sept. 30, 1816, d. Oct. 16, 1879; Corne- 



120 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


lius, b. Jan. 19, 1819; Sarah Elizabeth, b. Mar. 8, 1822, m. 
Simeon Emerson, Jan. 17, 1841; Mary Augusta, b. May 27, 
1826, m. Nathan Crossman, Jr., Mar. 17, 1852, d. Feb. 29, 1884. 
But two of this family remain. The names and the bright and 
useful life of those who have within a few years gone from us 
are fresh in the thoughts of the living. The Hon. Samuel Bab¬ 
cock was a wise, judicious, and upright citizen, who faithfully 
served the town in many important ways. For twelve years he 
was a member of the Board of Selectmen, most of the time 
chairman. He was also for twelve years, between 1848 and 
1871, on the School Committee, generally chairman, guiding 
this important work with a high degree of wisdom. In 1855 
he represented the town at the Legislature, and in 1864 he was 
a member of the State Senate. 


BENJAMIN PBATT. 

In 1757 William Babcock sold to Benjamin Pratt thirty-eight 
and a half acres of land, and in 1759 John Babcock sold to said 
Pratt thirty-three acres. William and John are, doubtless, sons 
of George, the son of Benjamin, who purchased this land of 
Richard Collicot. In 1758 William Pierce sold to Pratt 
twenty-three acres, and Edward Adams, 2d, forty acres in 
1760,—in all making a tract of one hundred and thirty-four 
acres, probably lying near together, which was long known 
as the Pratt farm. 

Benjamin Pratt was born in Cohassett, 1709. He came to 
Milton about 1757, and built the house which occupied the site 
on which the John W. Brooks mansion now stands. The old 
Pratt house, then known as the Beals house, was removed to 
East Milton by Mr. Josiah Babcock, and was converted into two 
dwelling-houses now standing on Granite avenue. 

Mr. Pratt was bred a mechanic, but, having lost his leg after 
reaching mature years, he turned from industrial to educational 
pursuit. 

He graduated at Harvard in 1787, and pursued legal studies 
with Judge Auchmuty, whose daughter he married. He resided 
in Milton but a short time, and was chiefly occupied with his 
professional duties. He became an eminent lawyer and scholar, 
and, through the friendship of Governor Pownal, in 1761 
was made Chief Justice of New York, where he died in 1763, 
aged 54 years. 

John Adams describes him, as seen in the court where was 
argued the case of “ Writs of Assistance ” by Otis and our 
Oxenbridge Thacher, in the following words: — 


MILTON HILL. 


121 


The place in which the court sat was the council chamber of the old 
Town House, Boston. At that time it was an imposing and elegant apart¬ 
ment, ornamented with two splendid full-length portraits of Charles II. 
and James II. In this chamber near the fire were seated five judges, with 
Lieut. Governor Hutchinson at their head as Chief Justice, all in their fresh 
robes of scarlet English cloth, in their broad bands and immense judicial 
wigs. In this chamber were seated at a long table all the barristers of Bos¬ 
ton and its neighboring county of Middlesex, in their gowns, bands andtye- 
wigs. They were not seated on ivory chairs, but their dress was more sol¬ 
emn and more pompous than that of the Roman Senate when the Gauls 
broke in upon them. In a corner of the room must be placed wit, sense, 
imagination, genius, pathos, reason, prudence, eloquence, learning, science, 
and immense reading hung by the shoulders on two crutches, covered with 
a cloth great coat, in the person of Mr. Pratt, who had been solicited on 
both sides, but would engage on neither, being about to leave Boston for¬ 
ever, as chief justice of New York. 


His only daughter, Isabella, married Samuel Wells, of Boston; 
and the Pratt farm was held in the Wells family for more than 
half a century, and became known as the “Wells farm.’’ 

At a later period, this farm passed into the Beals family. 
John Wells sold the easterly part to Jonathan Beals, and the 
westerly part to Benjamin Beals. These brothers were exten¬ 
sive farmers and butchers. Some of our citizens recall the fa¬ 
mous huskings in their barns, and remember the flocks of sheep 
formerly crowding the beautiful grove of Mr. Brooks on Centre 
street. 

Mr. John M. Forbes bought of Capt. Jonathan Beals, Nov. 3, 
1846, a tract of nearly a hundred acres extending back to the 
Quincy line, and now forming a part of the estate of Edward 
Cunningham. 

The land of Benjamin Beals was sold at auction by his heirs 
Oct. 4, 1854, Mr. John W. Brooks being the purchaser at one 
thousand dollars per acre. 

GLOVES, EAEM. 

Nathaniel Glover was the fourth son of “ the worshipful John 
Glover,” of Dorchester. He married Mary Smith, of Dorches¬ 
ter, in 1652. 

His eldest son, Nathaniel, born Jan. 30, 1653, married Han¬ 
nah Hinckley, of Barnstable, in 1672. 

Their youngest son was Thomas, born Dec. 26, 1690 ; he 
married Elizabeth Clough, of Boston, June 7, 1672. 

The second son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Clough) Glover 
was Elijah, born at the Newbury farm, July 20,1725, and died 
at his residence on Milton Hill, July 1, 1770, aged 45 years. 
His death was caused by an internal injury received at a wrestling 


122 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


match, or ring, on election day the May previous. By his supe¬ 
rior agility and strength he had come off victor, and was enjoy¬ 
ing his triumph, when a new competitor offered himself. He 
accepted the challenge and was victorious, hut in the struggle 
a blood-vessel was ruptured, which resulted in his speedy death. 

He married Abigail Kinsley, daughter of Samuel and Mary 
(Gulliver) Kinsley, of Milton, Dec. 21, 1751. She died Feb. 
8, 1761, in her thirty-fifth year. He married again, Jan. 1, 
1762, Elizabeth Tucker, of Milton. 

Elijah Glover was the first in the line of “the worshipful 
John Glover ” to reside in Milton. All other Milton Glovers, 
except the descendants of Elijah, and Theodore Russell Glover, 
who has lately become a resident of Milton Hill, are from the 
ancestry of Henry Glover, the brother of John. Some of this 
stock were citizens here in 1680, and continue to this day. 
Elijah came into the occupancy of a valuable tract of land on 
Milton Hill, through his wife Abigail, from the old Kinsley 
estate. It was situated on the north-east side of Adams street, 
and now forms the estates of Capt. R. B. Forbes, Mr. R. S. 
Watson, and Mr. H. P. Kidder. He erected his mansion not 
far from the street, nearly on the line of Mr. Watson’s private 
avenue. The Glover house was standing there within forty 
years, and the tract was known as the “ Glover farm.” The 
well still remains. 

Feb. 24, 1841, William Glover sold to Benjamin F. Dudley 
fifty acres of land lying on Milton Hill, being the same be¬ 
queathed to Samuel K. Glover by his grandfather, Samuel Kins¬ 
ley, and conveyed by the said Samuel K. to his son William, by 
deed June 1, 1829. Benjamin F. Dudley conveyed the same 
tract of fifty acres, then known as the “ Dudley farm,” to 
John M. Forbes by deed Oct. 9, 1846. July 30, 1849, John M. 
Forbes conveyed fifteen acres of this tract to Samuel Frothing- 
ham, Jr., who built the Kidder mansion. Portions of it were 
sold to R. B. Forbes and other individuals. 

The mansion of Capt. R. B. Forbes was built in 1847, and 
occupied Oct. 5 of that year. It was enlarged in 1852. In 
August of 1855 he received a visit from the Hon. Amelia M. 
Murray, an English lady of literary note. In her letters, after¬ 
wards published, she makes the following mention of Milton, 
which is of value, as the testimony of a distinguished for¬ 
eigner : — 

August 6, 1855. We have been paying a very agreeable visit at the 
house of that good Mr. Forbes, who headed a petition to his Government, 
and commanded ships which brought out American contributions of food to 
the starving Irish. Milton has a charming vicinity; fine trees, hedges, and 


MILTON HILL. 


123 


even roads, bordered by hedges, from which hang lovely draperies of smilax 
and vines, English in outline if not in detail. The village is on high 
ground, and has every here and there extensive views, with the sea, Boston 
and Boston Harbor,—particularly from the granite quarries towards the 
Blue Hills. 

The only children of Elijah. Glover were a son by his first 
wife, Samuel Kinsley Glover, horn in Milton, June 28, 1753; 
and a daughter by his second wife, Susannah, born April 21, 
1765. She married Charles Pierce, of Milton, Nov. 4, 1790, and 
died Aug. 31, 1845, aged 80 years. 

Samuel Kinsley Glover lived in Milton through a long life, 
and died here July 1, 1839, aged 86 years. He inherited from 
his grandfather, Samuel Kinsley, a large landed estate, and 
owned and occupied the homestead on Milton Hill. At the age 
of 18 he entered Harvard College; leaving when the College 
was suspended by the war, he applied himself to the study of 
medicine and surgery and served his country as surgeon in the 
navy until peace was restored, in 1783. 

He was married, April 21, 1781, to Eunice Babcock, of Mil- 
ton, daughter of William Babcock. She died Dec. 1, 1826, 
and left three sons. Samuel, b. May 6, 1783; d. July 
22, 1831; unmarried. Elijah Anson, b. July 19, 1785; d. 
September 22, 1819; unmarried. William, b. July 26, 

1788; m. Eliza Gleason, of Wrentham, January 2, 1816. Dr. 
Samuel K. Glover built the “ Glover house,” on the north¬ 
erly slope of Milton Hill, on the Babcock land belonging 
to his wife, which he occupied during the latter years of his 
life. For many years this house was a tavern and the head¬ 
quarters of the stage from Milton to Boston, of which Mr. 
Glover was proprietor. Charles Breck before becoming a citi¬ 
zen of Milton passed a night in this house in 1823. It was 
then kept by Elisha Ford. This place descended to his son 
William. He was a goldsmith by trade, and kept a jeweller’s 
and silver-plater’s shop in Boston for several years. After his 
removal to Milton he opened a store of the same kind in a 
small building near the bridge on the Milton side. He died in 
Milton, June 15, 1856, aged 60 years. The Glover house, on 
Milton Hill, was sold by his widow and heirs, through the trustee, 
Samuel L. Buss, to Capt. E. H. Faucon, who is the present 
owner of the estate. 

Gen. Moses Whitney built the Whitney house, situated 
between the Glover and Swift houses, in 1820. These three 
houses are now standing, in good condition, on the easterly side 
of Adams street, Milton Hill. 


124 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


SWIFT ESTATE. 

In the old survey made by James Blake, 1747, from the Town 
House in Boston to the Governor’s farm in Milton, the estates 
are given along the line, and probably all the principal houses 
then standing. On the south side of Neponset river appear 
two buildings, one on the site occupied by the present choco¬ 
late mill, another where the house occupied by the late Dr. 
Ware stands; then, ascending the hill on the east side, the 
“Stanley house,” occupied by Wade; the next is the Miller 
house, far over the hill; and on the south-west side of the road, 
nearly opposite the Miller house, the Swift house; the Daniels, 
Kinsley, Babcock, Holman, and Gulliver houses follow. 

The old Swift house stood in the field on the south-west side 
of Adams street. About forty rods from the street, below 
the barn of Mr. Dudley, a depression in the field plainly indi¬ 
cates the position of the cellar and house. 

Thomas Swift, son of Robert, of Rotherham, Yorkshire, Eng¬ 
land, first appears in the Town Records of Dorchester, Nov. 
22, 1634. He was a maltster by trade, but followed agriculture. 
He left a large estate, for the times. Among the household 
goods that he brought from England was a carved oak chair, 
very antique and beautiful, which is now in the possession of 
Miss Elizabeth R. Swift, of Milton Hill. At one time he owned 
a large tract of land extending over many hundred acres, said 
to be about 1,400, in the north-east part of Unquity. On this 
were two houses, one of them built as early as 1649. In one 
of these Mr. Swift lived; the other was occupied by Henry 
Merifield. (See Suffolk Deeds, Lib. 13, Fol. 408.) He died 
May 4, 1675, and was buried in the old Dorchester burying 
ground, where are now to be seen the large slabs of stone then 
placed over his' grave to protect it from wolves. 

Deacon Thomas Swift, oldest son of Thomas, was born June 
17,1635. He married Elizabeth Vose, daughter of Robert Yose, 
of Milton, in 1657. She died Jan. 15, 1675. He married again 
Oct. 16, 1676, Sarah Clapp, of Milton. Deacon Swift received 
from his father-in-law Yose, in 1659, nineteen and three-fourths 
acres of upland in Milton, confirmed to him by deed Feb. 23, 
1663. (Suffolk Deeds, Lib. 42, Fol. 33.) This was in the region 
of School street, opposite the house of the late Wm. Davis, Can¬ 
ton avenue, stretching towards Churchill’s lane. Here he set¬ 
tled at the time of his first marriage, and became one of the most 
enterprising and useful citizens of Milton. He was selectman 
for thirty-five years, 1668-1704, inclusive, excepting the year 
1677, and filled various other offices in the town and colony. 


MILTON HILL . 


125 


May 5, 1676, he was made quarter-master of a troop of horse, 
as had been his father, with the rank of lieutenant. He was 
appointed by the General Court to the charge of the Neponset 
Indians, and was constantly active in the Indian wars. He 
was one of the founders of the Milton Church, signing the 
covenant Aug. 24, 1678. Aug. 20, 1682, he was ordained 
deacon. He died Jan. 26, 1718. His wife died the day after 
his funeral. 

We have no data from which to decide when the Swift house 
was built on the south-west side of Adams street. It is known, 
however, to have been standing there in 1747, and may have 
been the house built prior to 1649. Subsequently a house was 
built on the opposite side of Adams street, where most of the 
family yet to be spoken of were born. 

William Swift, son of Deacon Thomas, was killed in the dis¬ 
astrous expedition against Quebec, 1690. He was a member of 
Captain John Withington’s Company, Dorchester. 

Col. Samuel Swift, the youngest son of Deacon Thomas, was 
born in Milton, December 10,1683. He married Ann, daughter 
of Thomas Holman, of Milton, a prominent man of his day. 
Col. Samuel Swift was one of the wealthiest and most influ¬ 
ential men of Milton. He, like his father, filled many offices 
of trust and importance in the town. He was Judge of the 
Court of Common Pleas, Colonel of the militia, Representative 
to the General Court; moderator of the town-meetings for 
eleven years, between 1734 and 1747, and selectman for fifteen 
years, between 1735 and his death, 1747. His second son, 
Samuel Swift, was a distinguished barrister in Boston, to whom 
reference is made in another place. 

Ebenezer Swift, the youngest son of Col. Samuel, was born in 
Milton March 24,1724-5, and died January 17, 1805. He mar¬ 
ried Judith, daughter of Deacon Nehemiah Clap, of Milton. His 
first son, John, was born at the ancestral home, on Milton Hill, 
June 24,1747, and died in Milton January 14,1819. He married 
Elizabeth Babcock, daughter of William and Hannah (Blake) 
Babcock, of Milton. Ebenezer occupied the old Swift house, 
south-west of Adams street, built by his ancestors ; and his son 
Samuel built the house on the opposite side. This house and 
the land south-west of the street remained in the Swift family 
until August 25, 1835, when it was conveyed to Thomas Hollis, 
who sold the land on the south-westerly side to B. F. Dudley, 
the present owner. 

Capt. John Swift, as he is called in our records, was also a 
leading man in Milton. He built the house on Adams street, 
opposite the opening of Randolph and Canton avenues, in 1790 


126 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


known to this day as the Swift house. This house is nearly 
one hundred years old. In business he was a successful manu¬ 
facturer of gentlemen’s and ladies’ beaver hats, in which he 
rivalled the imported goods. His place of business was the house 
now standing between the Stanley and Swift houses. In the 
memorable year 1776 he was chosen one of the Cominittee of 
Safety and Correspondence. He was a true and faithful mem¬ 
ber of the body politic, positive and determined in character; 
and this was a leading characteristic of the Swift family. In 
1781 he, with his brother Samuel, was appointed to raise men 
for the Continental Army. In 1817 he was second lieutenant 
of a company sent out at the time of Shay’s rebellion. 

Dr. Morison says: — 

About sixty years ago, I have been told, that, at a town-meeting in Milton, 
no public measure could be carried which was opposed by John Swift, the 
energetic head of an important family. 

Mr. E. J. Baker writes: — 

His was no negative character. He loved his friends and hated his 
enemies, while he “ rendered unto Csesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto 
God things that are God’s.” In the days of my boyhood I met him frequently 
when he was at the age of threescore years and ten, and my remembrance 
of him is that he was tall and portly, dignified in his person and in his gait, 
and elastic in his step. His hair was very white with the cue of the former 
generation. He was always social and pleasant in his conversation, and a 
constant attendant at church. His hospitality was bounteous, and shared 
alike by his neighbors and transient visitors. 


Samuel Swift, brother of John, and second son of Ebenezer, 
was born at the paternal mansion, Milton Hill, May 28, 1749, 
and died in the house he built, February 1,1830, aged 81 years. 
He married, October 4, 1782, Abigail, daughter of William and 
Eunice (Bent) Pierce. He was the father of Eunice, wife of 
Josiah Wadsworth; of Judith, who died, unmarried, 1857, and 
of George Swift, whose famous picture is in many of our albums. 
Like his brother John he was an ardent patriot, vigilant and 
active in Milton through the stirring times of the Revolution. 
By his will, dated Sept. 24, 1827, he devised his house and 
lands to his children. His mansion and a part of the land 
was sold by the heirs to Mr. Thomas Hollis, of Milton. 
It then passed into the hands of Professor James B. Thayer, 
of Cambridge, and was finally purchased by Mr. Lewis W. 
Tappan, Jr., a lineal descendant of Obadiah, son of the first 
Thomas Swift. Mr. Tappan still owns and occupies the old 
mansion, which now shines out in new life. 


MILTON HILL. 


127 


The only members of the Swift family living, and now resident 
in Milton, are the Misses Elizabeth R. and Mary Swift, of Milton 
Hill. Dean Swift, their brother, druggist in Milton, died Aug. 
26, 1859, and William died June 2, 1875, within the memory of 
most of our citizens. 


JOHN GILL. 

John Gill was a member of the Dorchester Church in 1640. 
He was lessee with Roger Billings of John Glover’s “ Newbury 
farm ” at Squantum, in 1641. He married Ann Billings, sister 
of Roger. John Gill lived in Unquity before 1652, in a house 
which stood on the north side of Adams street, almost opposite 
the opening of Pleasant street. This house he subsequently 
sold to Anthony Gulliver. David Rawson, grandson of Secre¬ 
tary Rawson, married a daughter of Capt. Jonathan Gulliver, 
through whom the house came into the Rawson family. The 
last occupants of the old house were David Young and Richard 
Falkingham, who married daughters of Rawson. 

An ancient deed discovered iji the Records of the Proprietors 
of Dorchester throws much light on this section of our town. 1 

June 80, 1649, Thomas Holbrook bought of Mrs. Stoughton 
and executors thirty acres of land on the south side of Nepon- 


1 26 day of the 3 month 1652 John Glover and William Robinson on the part of the Town 
of Dorchester and by power given them by the said Town have graunted and bargained 
unto John Gill and Anthony Gullwer the lands lying between their lands and the brook 
near Mr. Holmans, bounded or laid out at the end near Mr. Collicots, on the corner of the 
new garden now is and the walnut stump about the midst of the weadth of the said land 
graunted, and about fower rods from Mr. Collicots house and from the said walnut stump 

to the river by a-about six or seven rods from Mr Collicots house and the half 

wedth of the said brook to the other end thereof, to them and their heirs and assignes 
forever. Provided that Anthony Gullwer shall make and maintayne a faire open suffi¬ 
cient highway for all the country forever over the brook where the way now lyeth, and 
from the same to a rock above the said John Gills house upon the rising of the hill and 
between the garden of Goodman Kinsley and the brow of the hill on the south side 
thereof. 

The meaning of these presents being that the said John Gill and Anthony Gullwer 
shall have the said lands in severaltie each of them to themselves as it lyeth before their 
lotts, and that the said Anthony Gulliwer Shall make and maintayne a faire passable high¬ 
way over the said Uncaty brooke and so far as his land lyeth towards John Gills and 
also that which lyeth above the line of said John Gill’s lott to the aforesaid rock on the 
foot of said hill; and also that the said John Gill is to make and maintayn the way faire 
and sufficient so far as his lott goeth in breadth towards the said rock aforesaid; and 
further that if Mr Richard Collicot requires to have his proportion of common right there¬ 
in, then both the said Anthony Gulwer and John Gill shall permit him to have it by lotte 
to be cast between him the said Richard Collicot and the Town of Dorchester; tlie first 
lott to begin at the end where the passage is over the brook and the second lott to begin 
at the end of the land next Mr Collicots, and both of them to abate so much out of that 
which lyeth before their lotts according to proportion of the whole, so as both may have 
equally therein. 

And the said Anthony Gullwer and John Gill do promise and covenant henceforth to 
make and maintayn the said highway for the country forever as aforesaid, and that the 
said lands shall be chargable therewith forever; also Mr Holman is to have liberty of a 
footway from his house over the brook if he requires it. — Records of Proprietors of 
Dorchester , Booh II., Page 1 7 . 



128 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


set river, bounded north-east by the river, south-east by John 
Rigby, south-west by John Glover, and north-west by John 
Redman and Anthony Gulliver. 

Feb. 10, 1652, Thomas Holbrook conveys the same land, 
“situated in a place called Yncatyquissett, with a frame house 
thereon standing,” to John Gill; both deeds were recorded April 
2, 1652. 

In 1656 John Gill bought of Elizabeth Stoughton, executrix, 
one hundred and one acres of the Israel Stoughton land, called 
the “ Indian Field.” This was bounded north-easterly and 
westerly by the Neponset and “ Babcock ” rivers; then the line 
turned and made the boundary between Mrs. Russell and Dr. 
Holbrook, as far as Randolph avenue, and then it ran just south 
of Mrs. Russell’s house straight to the river. This took in the 
whole of Milton Hill, north of the Russell house. Mr. Gill was 
one of the three petitioners for the incorporation of Milton. 
He was made trustee of Milton Church, 1664, and died in Bos¬ 
ton, 1678. 


JOSEPH BELCHER. 

Joseph Belcher, son of Gregory Belcher, of Braintree, born 
1641, married Rebecca Gill, daughter of John, in 1667, and had 
three sons and one daughter: John, b. 1667; Joseph, b. 
March 14, 1668; Rebecca, b. Nov. 12, 1671; Gill, b. 1678. 
Joseph Belcher, Jr., was brought up in the family of his 
grandfather, John Gill, in whose will his education and support 
were provided for. He graduated at Harvard College in 1690, 
and settled as minister in Dedham, 1698, where for thirty years 
he remained the faithful and beloved pastor until his decease, 
April 27, 1723. He passed his childhood in Milton, and became 
heir to the larger portion of the Gill estate through his grand¬ 
mother Gill. At his decease the family returned to the home 
of his childhood, where they remained for about fifteen years. 
Joseph, his eldest son, was born in Dedham March 23, 
1703-4 ; graduated at Harvard in 1717; married Elizabeth Butt, 
of Dorchester, Dec. 24, 1731; and was elected selectman of 
Milton in 1734. The estate on Milton Hill was first sold to 
Perez Bradford, of Duxbury, who married a daughter of Mr. 
Belcher. It was reconveyed to the Belchers in 1735, and by 
them sold to Thomas Hutchinson, Jeremiah Smith, William 
Babcock, and others about 1740. 

THE MILLER FAMILY. 

June 25, 1690, Samuel Miller, of Rehoboth was married to Rebecca Bel¬ 
cher, of Milton, by me Peter Thacher, Pastor. — Thacker's Journal. 


MILTON HILL. 


129 


Samuel Miller had three sons and three daughters, all 
horn in Milton: Samuel, b. 1696; Eben, b. 1703; Joseph, b. 
1706; Elizabeth, Mary, and Hannah. He lived on Adams 
street, on the southerly slope of Milton Hill, near the residence 
of B. F. Dudley, in a house built by himself or by John Gill, 
the grandfather of his wife, where he kept tavern in 1712, and for 
many years. This mansion, which was standing within the 
memory of some now living, was three stories high, stately and 
aristocratic. It was one of the best of the times. The well is 
still there, within a yard of the sidewalk. 

In 1712 Samuel Miller, with three other citizens of Milton, 
purchased of Boston three thousand acres of land, called the 
“ Blue Hill Lands,” half of which was united to the territory of 
Milton, and lies in the south-westerly section of the town. On 
this tract a house was erected and continued in the family until 
the Revolution. 

Samuel Miller was an influential and highly respected citizen 
of Milton. He died about 1744. 

His eldest son, Samuel, was a leading man here during the 
whole of his mature life. As Samuel Miller, Jr., he was our 
Representative to the General Court in the year 1743; and after 
the death of his father he filled this office for eight years, the 
last in 1756. He was moderator at the annual town-meeting 
for thirteen years ; and selectman for sixteen years. He mar¬ 
ried Rebecca Minot, 1724, and had Samuel, b. 1725; Stephen, b. 
1727; and John, b. 1733, spoken of in biographical notices. He 
died in Milton, of small-pox, 1761, aged 65. 

His son, Col. Stephen Miller, as an active and leading citizen, 
followed in the footsteps of his father. He was the Representa¬ 
tive of the town in 1774. He was a moderator of the town for five 
years prior to 1770 ; and selectman for eight years, serving for 
the last time in 1773. At the time of the Revolution he took 
sides with the Royalists, and removed to the Province of New 
Brunswick, where he passed a long and highly useful life, and 
died in 1817, aged 90 years. His Milton residence was the 
house built by his father on the new purchase in Scott’s Woods. 
This was burned in 1770. 

Last Friday afternoon the large dwelling house of Col. Miller acci¬ 
dentally catch’d on fire and was entirely consumed together with a great 
part of the furniture. [Monday, April 2, 1770.] —Boston Evening Post. 

His property was confiscated, and was purchased of the 
commissioners by Hon. E. H. Robbins. It is now in the 
possession of Col. H. S. Russell. 


130 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


This estate has been owned or occupied by Mr. Bowers; next 
by “ Quaker Anthony,” as he was called; then by Mr. Packard, 
of Bridgewater, Capt. Josiah Bent, Nathaniel Tucker, and Dr. 
Simeon Palmer. 

Bey. Ebenezer Miller, D.D., the second son of the first 
Samuel, was born in Milton June 20, 1703. He was prepared 
for college under Rev. Peter Thacher, and graduated at Har¬ 
vard 1722. He was ordained in England, in the Episcopal 
Church, by the Bishop of London, and was appointed rector of 
the church gathered by himself in Braintree (now Quincy), 
where he was supported as missionary by the Society. for the 
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Here he contin¬ 
ued for thirty-six. years, until his death, Eeb. 11, 1763. He 
received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University 
'of Oxford in 1747. He is said to have been the first native 
descendant of the colony ordained to the ministry of the Epis¬ 
copal Church. 


COL. JOSEPH GOOCH. 

Col. Gooch removed from Braintree to Milton in 1740. He 
purchased a tract of land on Milton Hill of Samuel Miller, and 
built the Churchill house, now standing on the corner of 
Churchill’s lane and Adams street. This house, regarded as a 
fine structure in our day, is a specimen of the best building of 
the last century. The interior has points of rare beauty, 
especially the hall and stair-way. Col. Gooch represented the 
town at the General Court in the years 1752 and 1756. He is 
spoken of as a man of strong points of character, and of great 
ambition. 

We find the following notice of his death : — 

Last Friday sen’night died at Milton Joseph Gooch, Esq., one of his 
Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for County of Suffolk; formerly Colonel 
of a Regiment of Militia. Feb. 19, 1770. — Boston Evening Post. 

His son, Joseph, was born in 1728 and graduated in 1747. 
After his father’s death he removed to Vermont, and the estate 
passed into the possession of Hon. E. H. Robbins, by whom it 
was conveyed to Hon. Asaph Churchill, in whose family a portion 
of it still continues. Miss Sarah Churchill occupied the home¬ 
stead until her death, in 1886; and the Hon. Joseph M. Churchill 
had a residence, built by himself, on the home estate. C. M. S. 
Churchill, Esq., also resides on the same territory. A picture 
of the house and stairway is here presented. 


















MILTON HILL. 


131 


REDMAN ESTATE. 

Nathaniel Babcock bought the Redman homestead in 1714, 
“ containing eighteen acres, bounded North on Nathan Bab¬ 
cocks land; East on the Town Highway; South on the way 
leading to William Yoses ; and Westerly on William Voses 
and Mr. Belchers farms.” William Vose’s house stood on 
Churchill’s lane, then called “Vose’s lane,” occupying nearly 
the site now covered by Col. O. W. Peabody’s cottage. After¬ 
wards, Thomas Glover, son-in-law of William Vose, lived in the 
house, and Mr. Seth Baggs. The old Yose well is still in use on 
the place. Nathan Yose, son of William, built and occupied the 
house owned by Col. Peabody, recently burned. On this same 
lane was the Robert Redman homestead. In 1831, when 
Edmund J. Baker was making a survey of the land on the 
corner of Adams street and Churchill’s lane, he discovered an 
old cellar, a short distance down the hill; here stood the old 
Redman house. 

The small house that stood half-way down Churchill’s lane, 
on the west side, was occupied by John Drew, who married 
Betsey Wallace, the last descendant of a slave family. They 
were the faithful domestics in the family of Hon. E. H. Rob¬ 
bins, while he lived in the Churchill house. 

About 1832 Capt. R. B. Forbes purchased the land on the 
corner of Adams street and Churchill’s lane, of Adam Daven¬ 
port and Dr. Gardiner, and, in 1833, built the mansion now 
occupied by J. Murray Forbes. It was long known as Madame 
Forbes’ house, having been presented to her by her children. 
Between the house and the street stood the house and chair- 
factory of Adam Davenport. The house was removed to Dor¬ 
chester, and the chair factory was purchased by Benjamin 
Henshaw and removed to Randolph avenue. 

DANIEL BRIGGS. 

Daniel Briggs lived in a large house built by Abel Allyne 
where the double cottage now stands. This was purchased by 
John M. Forbes. The house was torn down, and one of the cot¬ 
tages was built, and after a few years the other was added. 

Thomas S. Briggs built a house on the site of Col. O. W. 
Peabody’s house in 1830. Rev. Dr. Lothrop purchased of 
Briggs, and lived in the house several years. He then sold the 
house, which was removed to a position on the avenue now lead¬ 
ing to the estate of Col. W. H. Forbes, and was occupied by 


132 


- HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Rev. Chandler Robbins. In 1851 Dr. Lothrop built a new 
bouse, which in turn was taken down a few years since, and the 
mansion of Col. Peabody erected. Dr. Lothrop occupied the 
bouse for ten years or more, through the summer months. At 
the same time a goodly company of clergymen, with their fami¬ 
lies, were scattered over the hill, spending the summer vaca¬ 
tions. 

On one occasion a gentleman from Boston wishing to find 
Rev. James I. T. Coolidge, then living on Milton Hill, inquired 
at the Milton depot for his residence, and received directions 
somewhat as follows: “ As you ascend the hill the first house 

on the right, a little off from the road, is that of Rev. George 
G. Channing. In the next house, on the same side, lives Rev. 
Francis Cunningham, and a little farther on, nearly opposite, is 
the house of Rev. Dr. S. K. Lothrop. These houses you will pass; 
then a little farther, on the left, is the house of Rev. Joseph 
Angier; near Mr. Angier’s you will pass the house where Rev. 
Edward E. Hale is spending the summer. Still keep on by Rev. 
Dr. Morison’s house, who lives this side of Rev. Chandler Rob¬ 
bins, and the next house, on the rising ground, is where Rev. Mr. 
Coolidge lives; but do not mistake his house for that of Rev. 
John Weiss, who is out here for the season.” Who wonders 
that it was then called Zion’s Hill ? 

THE HOLBROOK HOUSE. 

The mansion now owned by Mrs. Francis Cunningham was 
erected by Dr. A m os Holbrook in 1801, who purchased the land of 
the Babcock heirs. William Badcock, son of Enoch, bought 
land of the Joseph Belcher heirs on the highway from the 
bridge over the hill about the time that Jeremiah Smith and 
Governor Hutchinson purchased of the same parties. 

At the decease of William Badcock, son of William, and his 
widow, which occurred in March, 1807 (the first service in Mil- 
ton attended by Rev. Dr. Gile being at her funeral), the real 
estate was divided among his heirs. Mrs. Glover, wife of Dr. 
Samuel K. Glover, took the Stanley house, built by Wm. Bad¬ 
cock, and the land now owned by Capt. Faucon. Mrs. John 
Swift took the land running from the Stanley house to the 
Whitney house, and also the land on which now stands the 
house of Miss Elizabeth Swift. Mrs. Paine sold her portion to 
General Whitney. The portion of Bathsheba, another daugh¬ 
ter, was above the Hutchinson place; this was sold by her sis¬ 
ters, before the mother’s death, to Dr. Holbrook, on which his 
house was built. 



























































MILTON HILL. 


183 


The Holbrook house, built with a view to tasteful archi¬ 
tecture, will stand the test of a searching comparison with 
similar work of our day. Situated on nearly the highest 
portion of Milton Hill, and commanding an unobstructed 
view of the harbor, islands, and vapory ocean, and, westerly, 
of the valleys and the whole range of the Blue Hills, the 
stately mansion was considered the best in Milton. The 
spacious halls and stairs, and the large square rooms, give the 
interior an airy and homelike aspect. The mantles and fire- 
frames retain their original tracing in stucco, or composition, 
sharp and delicate, resembling fine carving. 

An Italian artist was occupied for a whole year in the 
fresco-work, some of which is seen to-day in bright and well- 
defined colors. Portions of the walls and ceilings, especially 
in halls and parlors, touched up in the same colors, are as 
light and artistic in hue and tracery as when the designer left 
them. 

The sideboard of Dr. Holbrook retains its place in the dining¬ 
room ; on the sideboard stands a timepiece, made in England 
for Governor Hutchinson in 1750 ; while in almost every room 
is seen some article, ornamental or useful, formerly belonging 
to the Holbrook family. 

A bed of lilies, originally set out by Dr. Holbrook, still 
affords an annual supply of delicate flowers. Trees and shrubs 
in every part of the estate perpetuate the memory of the aris¬ 
tocratic doctor. 

A picture of the house, and of the lower and upper halls, with 
the stair-ways, is seen on the opposite page. 

The estate of Dr. Holbrook adjoined that of Governor Hutch¬ 
inson. 


GOVERNOR THOMAS HUTCHINSON. 

The distinguished governor of Massachusetts who resided 
here has given this place a celebrity claiming a minute history 
and description of the house and locality. 

In 1827 the Boston Light Infantry marched out to Milton 
and camped on the open grounds in front of the house. They 
were elegantly entertained by Barney Smith after his wonted 
hospitality. Their object was to secure an engraving of the 
old Hutchinson house, a part of which was about to be 
torn down. For this purpose they brought with them Mr. 
John R. Penniman, the best designer and painter in Boston, 
who made a draft of the house, which has come down to our 
times. 


134 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Several years ago there appeared in the papers of the day an 
article entitled “ The Hutchinson House,” under the nom-de- 
plume “ Shade of Kitchmakin.” This proved to he a full 
and graphic history of this famous house, and of the men and 
women who have figured there from the time of Governor 
Hutchinson’s purchase to the day of writing, from the terse 
and entertaining pen of Edmund J. Baker. And this readable 
paper, embodying facts and incidents valuable in the history of 
this town, which, if lost in the ephemeral literature of the day, 
can never be replaced except by the writer of the same, is here 
inserted in full from the original manuscript: — 

“ The*Hutchinson House. 

“ The first day of April, 1634, when the General Court con¬ 
firmed to Israel Stoughton the grant to erect a corn-mill and 
build a wier upon Neponset river, was the birthday of the 
village now known as Milton Lower Mills. Up to that time 
no house existed, and no planting had been done; the Indians 
alone laid claim to Unquity, which signified the region at the 
head of tide-water of the Neponset. This was their winter 
home, from which they went in the spring to the salt-water for 
their fish, and to the plains to raise their corn ; and in the fall 
and winter they traced the river to its tributaries in search of 
game and furs. 

“ This simple mill was the nucleus around which slowly grew 
up a manufacturing business. The powder-mill, which was 
erected in 1674, to afford means for the early settlers to suc¬ 
cessfully combat King Philip, was a great enterprise for 
those early days, and brought to the neighborhood the family 
of Everdens, who manufactured powder here for eighty-three 
years. 

“ The owners of the mill did not live here, as a general thing, 
and they employed but few operatives, and those were persons 
in such humble life that they have not left even a gravestone 
to tell us who they were. At the end of the first century this 
village, then a mere hamlet, had about six or eight houses. One 
for the miller stood wdiere the house long owned by the Leeds 
family now stands. The one occupied by Everden, the powder- 
maker, stood where Henry L. Pierce’s brick mill now stands. 
One connected with the mill, on the south side of the river, stood 
where the railroad crosses the street. One connected with the 
paper-mill is still standing, and occupied by Dr. Ware, but has 
been removed a few feet in a north-easterly direction. The 
house now stands built by Mr. William Badcock on the landing. 


MILTON HILL. 


135 


Probably these constituted nearly all the houses then in the 
village; dwellings located on the surrounding farms were few 
and far between. 

“About the beginning of the second centmy a change took 
place in the history of Unquity, which had assumed the name 
of Neponset, and the social element began to predominate over 
the industrial element. Jonathan Belcher, the Governor of the 
Province, bought land and prepared to build a house on the Rowe 
estate. The Provincial treasurer, Wm. Foye, built the house 
lately occupied by Mr. Samuel Littlefield. Col. Joseph Gooch 
built the house now for many years in the Churchill family; 
and Thomas Hutchinson, in 1743, built the house now for many 
years in the Russell family. 

“ The settlement of these families in the neighborhood changed 
the character of the place, and instead of being noticed as the 
Neponset Mill, and the place where Eliot preached to the 
Indians at Unquity, it became widely known as a place of 
taste, literary acquirements, and refined society. Although last 
in the order of settlement, Governor Hutchinson soon became 
first in rank, and gave a prominent character to the society of 
Milton Hill. He was born in Boston, 1711, graduated at Har¬ 
vard, 1727, was a Representative from Boston when twenty-six 
years old, and continued nine years, and a selectman at twenty- 
seven. At twenty-nine he was sent to England upon public 
business relating to the currency. 

“He was one of the Council in 1750; in 1760 he was raised 
from Judge of Probate to Lieutenant Governor; in 1770 he 
was appointed Governor by the Crown, which office he held till 
he embarked for England in May, 1774. 

“ Governor Hutchinson’s history of Massachusetts has won for 
him a name that will never fade. He was an orator and an 
accomplished gentleman. Although always holding public office, 
either by election by the people or by appointment of the Crown, 
he found leisure to cultivate his rural tastes, and spent much 
time in laboring with his men in setting out and grafting trees, 
and in attending to the routine of farming and cultivating 
fruits. The row of sycamore trees which graced both sides of the 
street as you pass over Milton Hill was the work of his hands. 
Laboring with the hoe and shovel he assisted the men to set 
them there, and all who remember them before the blight of 
1840 will bear testimony to his taste. A few still remain; but 
the most have died out within the last thirty years, and elms 
and other ornamental trees, under Miss Russell’s care, have 
taken their place. With the aristocratic style which belonged 
to the offices of the crown, Governor Hutchinson blended the 


186 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


dignity of the scholar and the gentleman, and had the happy 
faculty of making himself respected and beloved by all his 
neighbors. 

“ The King’s Chapel in Boston was his stated place of worship, 
but while at his country-seat he usually attended church at 
Milton, but going to Boston on Sunday occasionally. One 
pleasant Sabbath afternoon, as he was returning in his carriage, 
he found himself stopped by the village tithingman with his 
long black wand. The tithingman was an Irishman of wit, and 
some standing in society, who had been elected as a joke. He 
accosted the Governor: 4 Your Excellence, it is my business 
when people travel on the Sabbath to know where they have 
been and where they are going.’ To this the Governor replied: 
‘ Friend Smith, I have been to Boston, and attended my own 
church both parts of the day, and have heard two very fine ser¬ 
mons.’ To this Smith responded, ‘Faith, sir, the best thing 
you can do is to go home and make a good use of them.’ He 
owned most of the land on the street for nearly half a mile 
from Milton bridge, and gave to the public enough from his 
land to convert a narrow street into the present street of ample 
dimensions. 

“ When the committee who came from Boston to request to 
have the tea removed [which was then at the wharf in Boston] 
had returned to the city, Gov. Hutchinson immediately walked 
down to the village to learn the state of affairs in regard to the 
landing of the tea from some of his most gracious neighbors. All 
they could tell him was that the people in Boston said it should 
not be landed; but what would be the result they could form no 
idea. He wished, if it was in his power, to prevent it; that no 
rash act should be committed by himself or the inhabitants 
of Boston. A special messenger in the night informed him 
that the tea was destroyed. Early the next morning he called 
again upon those whose information he had sought the evening 
before and expressed his regrets that they had not told him of 
the course that was to be taken that he might have ordered the 
vessels below the Castle until the matter could be more satis¬ 
factorily disposed of. He soon found that his usefulness was 
at an end, and that he could not serve both crown and people, 
and determined to leave the country in whose service he had 
spent so much time, and many personal friends with whom he 
was connected by so many ties. When his arrangements 
were completed he walked through the village bidding a good- 
by, shaking hands, and exchanging many kind parting words 
with his neighbors of both political parties. He walked down 
the lower road [now Adams street]. Soon after his carriage 








































MILTON HILL. 


137 


came along and took him to Dorchester Point, now South Bos¬ 
ton, where a barge came from the Castle and took him across, 
and there he remained until he sailed for England. Soon 
after Governor Hutchinson left the country the estate on Mil- 
ton Hill passed into the hands of Mr. Samuel Broome, an Eng¬ 
lishman by birth, and a merchant of Boston. Mr. Broome lived 
in the house but a short time, and it does not appear that he 
made any alterations in the house or added to the social posi¬ 
tion of Milton Hill. 

“ The next inhabitant of the Hutchinson house was the Hon. 
James Warren, a native of Plymouth, and a descendant of the 
first comers. He was of a very respectable family, and gradu¬ 
ated at Harvard in 1745. He took such a decided stand in 
favor of the Colonies against the mother country that, at a con¬ 
vention in Plymouth County in 1774, he was chosen President, 
and was several times a member of the Provincial Congress; 
and when Gen. Joseph Warren was killed, at Bunker Hill, Mr. 
James Warren was chosen in the place made vacant by his 
death as President of the Provincial Congress. He married a 
sister of James Otis, Jr., who was so deeply interested in the 
revolutionary struggle. She was a woman of uncommon intel¬ 
lectual powers. She published a history of the American War in 
three volumes. Mercy Warren is a name that awakens admira¬ 
tion even in our day. While they occupied the house it was the 
resort of patriots and men of learning from all parts of the coun¬ 
try. When Mr. Warren returned to Plymouth he sold his farm 
in Milton to different parties. The mansion, and all the land 
south-east of the Canton road, were sold to Patrick Jeffrey, 
and the forty-two acres, with no building upon them, between 
the Canton road and Neponset river, were sold to Jacob Gill 
and Edward H. Robbins. 

“ Madam Haley, 1 the widow of an opulent and highly respect¬ 
able merchant in London, came to look after the business of 
her husband, which had suffered much during the war, and 
brought with her Patrick Jeffrey, as a steward or agent. The 
property she brought with her, and what she collected here, 
made her very wealthy. She spent her money freely for what 
gratified her taste or satisfied her ambition. Tradition tells us 
that she gave five hundred dollars for the privilege of being 
the first one to ride over Charlestown bridge at its grand open¬ 
ing. She headed the procession on that occasion in her phae¬ 
ton, drawn by four white horses. The story has come down to 


1 She was sister of John Wilkes, the celebrated English politician, and had the peculiar 
tooth which marked the Wilkes family. 



138 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


us that a countryman called at her residence 1 and wished to see 
her. He sent up his name, and in due time Madam Haley 
appeared in her spacious drawing-room, magnificently furnished, 
in a fashionable dress, and announced herself as Madam Haley, 
and wished to know the object of his call. He stated in a few 
words that he had heard so much of her that he had a strong 
desire to see her. In a very pleasant and dignified manner 
she inquired what he had heard that so excited his curiosity. 
He replied, 4 That she was so rich, lived in such style, did so 
much good, and was so homely ! ’ She answered, ‘ Now you see 
me, what do you think about it? ’ — ‘I swear I believe they are 
all true ! ’ 

“ This Madam Haley married her steward; but a good 
steward made an uncongenial husband, and she went back to 
London, and Jeffrey 2 purchased the Hutchinson mansion. He 
was Scotch by birth, and inherited many of the peculiarities 
of his race. He had the furniture, library, paintings, plate, 
relics and ornaments that had graced the mansion of his 
wife’s first husband while an alderman and a mayor of 
London. 3 

“ With his two house-keepers and retinue of servants he kept 
up a magnificent style of living. Dr. Jarvis, the leading politi¬ 
cian, Robert Hollowell, and the late Governor Eustis, were 
members of the club that dined with him weekly, in the style 
of an aristocratic dinner of the clubs of London and Dublin of 
that day. The dinner was prolonged, the pipes evaporated in 
smoke, and choice wines disappeared. After the company were 
seated in their carriages, they were driven to the front door, and 
summoned Mr. Jeffrey to the door to drink a parting glass, as 
they sat in their carriages. 

“ Soon after his death his furniture was sold at auction, and 
the rare paintings, valuable books, statuary, unique furniture, 
philosophical instruments, and a great variety of curiosities 
extended the auction for three days ; and it was visited by all 
classes, and all found something to suit their case and meet 
their wants. Those three days were gala days for Milton Hill, 
and more mementos, from valuable to worthless, were dis¬ 
tributed in those three days than were ever distributed in the 
same length of time, from any one source, since the settlement 
of the country. At this day there is hardly an ancient family 


f This occurred at her Boston house, as she did not occupy her residence in Milton, 
f Patrick Jeffrey was brother of the celebrated Judge Jeffrey, of Scotland. 

Mrs. Harris, daughter of Dr. Holbrook, has in her possession a silver card-case pre¬ 
sented her by Mr. Jeffrey, which bears the Wilkes coat-of-arms. 




MILTON HILL. 


139 


in Milton that does not retain some memento of old Jeffrey. 
A timepiece 1 was sold at that auction, which was made in Eng¬ 
land for Governor Hutchinson, and went into the possession of 
the late Dr. Holbrook, and at Dr. Holbrook’s death it sold for 
ninety-five dollars, while, if stripped of its associations, it would 
not have been worth fifteen dollars. 

“A few years before Mr. Jeffrey’s death he mortgaged his home¬ 
stead of forty-four acres, and several pieces of outland and 
marsh, for $7,333, and shortly after his death, in 1812, his admin¬ 
istrator sold the equity for $540 to Barney Smith. 

“ George A. Otis, a connection of Mr. Smith’s, occupied the 
house for a short time, until Mr. Smith and his family returned 
from Europe and took possession of the estate. Mr. Smith had 
been an importer of English goods. His store, connected with 
his house, stood at the corner of State and Devonshire streets, 
Boston, but they had been taken down to widen Devonshire 
street. 

“ Mr. Smith had not been long in occupation of the place before 
he began to improve it. He erected the large piazza now stand¬ 
ing, and removed the two small, inconvenient wings which were 
built with the house, and erected the two commodious ones now 
standing, and built a long, circular shed near the north-west corner 
of the house. These improvements converted a house of ordinary 
appearance into an imposing structure, for those days. The exten¬ 
sive business acquaintance of Mr. Smith, and the hospitality 
which always abounded in his mansion, drew a large circle of 
acquaintances around him, which made it a point of interest, to 
which many travellers of distinction resorted, where they were 
magnificently entertained. 

“ Mr. Smith was of medium size, of fine form, with light com¬ 
plexion, and a profusion of silky hair of the purest white; his 
usual dress was a blue broadcloth with bright buttons, and a 
buff vest. His manners were graceful and pleasant. His kind 
feelings and ample means prompted him to do so much for the 
benefit of the community around him, and particularly to his 
neighbors less fortunate than himself, both in health and sick¬ 
ness, that he was universally beloved and respected while living, 
and his death, which occurred in 1828, was a public loss to the 
neighborhood. 

“ To make a settlement of the estate of Mr. Smith it was nec¬ 
essary that his real estate should be sold under the hammer, and 
in 1829 it was knocked down to Mrs. Lydia Smith Russell, the ac¬ 
complished daughter of Barney Smith, and wife of the late Hon. 

1 The old clock has now got back to Milton, and is in possession of Mrs. Francis 
Cunningham, who now owns the Dr. Holbrook estate. 



140 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Jonathan Russell, for $12,300. They were the next occupants of 
the estate. Mr. Russell had lived a brilliant life, commencing as a 
lawyer in Providence, then a foreign consul, a minister to several 
European courts, and Commissioner with John Q. Adams, Henry 
Clay, Albert Gallatin, and Mr. Bayard, of New York, to ne¬ 
gotiate the treaty of peace between the United States and Great 
Britain, which was ratified in 1815. His health was much 
impaired before he took up his residence on Milton Hill, 
and it continued gradually to fail until his death, in 1833. 
His remains were buried on the estate, directly opposite the 
house, but were afterwards removed to Forest Hills. Mrs. Rus¬ 
sell, * 1 an accomplished lady of rare attainments, did not suffer 
the character of the house for hospitality and sociability to de¬ 
generate, while, with her daughter, she occupied the estate till 
her death, in 1859. She improved the place by setting out the 
elms on both sides of the street where the sycamores set out by 
Governor Hutchinson, some hundred years before, had died, and 
the house, by making a new and convenient entrance on the 
south side, which added much to its general appearance and 
its comfort. Since her death the estate has been in the 
occupation of her children, and they are too well and favorably 
known to the present generation to be included in this sketch.” 
— Shade of Kitchmafrin. 


Closing events of Grovernor Hutchinson’s Public Life. 

On the evening of the 26th of August, 1765, the populace of 
Boston, exasperated beyond endurance, and almost wrought 
into frenzy, by the Stamp Act, surrounded the house of the 
Lieutenant Governor, suffered the family to escape, but de¬ 
stroyed whatever they could lay hands on. Costly furniture, 
valuable pictures, and statuary were demolished, the library and 
manuscripts were burned or thrown into the street, among the 


*Fredrika Bremer, the Swedish authoress, engaged to visit the Russells on Milton 
Hill, Dec., 1849, and pass Christmas with them. In her “Homes of the New World,” 
Yol. 1, p. 134, she thus refers to the Russell family: — 

“ Among the visitors whom I have seen and who have interested me are a Mrs. Rus¬ 
sell and her daughter Ida. Ida was horn in Sweden, where her father was charge d’af¬ 
faires many years ago, and although she left the country as a child she has retained an 
affection for Sweden and the Swedes. She is a handsome and agreeable young lady. 
Her mother looks like goodness itself. 

I cannot promise you much that is entertaining,’ said she, in inviting me to her 
house, ‘ but I will nurse you! ’ 

“ I could not but embrace her for this motherly good-will; but ah! that which I need 
is not continually ranging and flitting about from house to house, but to be quiet for a 
while. I promised, nevertheless, to go to them (they live in the country, some miles on 
the other side of Boston) on Christmas-eve, which they will keep in a Northern fashion, 
with Christmas pine-twigs, Christmas-candles, and Christmas-boxes, and, as I perceive, 
great ceremony. But more than all the Cbristmas-candles and the Christmas-boxes do 1 
need — a little rest. 







140 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Jonathan Russell, for $12 
the estate. Mr. Russell h 
lawyer in Providence, th 
European courts, and Co 
Clay, Albert Gallatin, and M 
gotiate the treaty of pea: 

Britain, which was rat: d- ik:£ i 

impaired before he tor 

and it continued gradually 1 

His remains were bur:' 

house, but were afterwa 

sell, 1 an accomplished 1 • ••‘-L -• 

the character of the hou 

generate, while, with h( 

her death, in 1859. Sb tlie pit 

elms on both sides of the si 

Governor Hutchinson, . i. 

the house, by making 1 ni convenient earn 

south side, which added m 

its comfort. Since yno Jtia> H 

occupation of her child hey are b-o SreU 1 

known to the present g( , ; l>e included in $ 
— Shade of Kitchmafrh . 


Closing events of /•/« . . ■ JP'd-'d 

On the evening of t tugu; 1 . 

Boston, exasperated . 

into frenzy, by the S su reran fed 'd 

Lieutenant Governor, ,; ■ 

stroyed whatever the; ( ’ 

valuable pictures, and 
manuscripts were bur; 


l Fredrika Bremer, the Swe< 
Hill, Dec., 1849, and pass Chris 
Vol. 1, p. 134, she thus refers 1 
“ Among the visitors whon 
sell and her daughter Ida. Ida 
faires many years ago, and a 1 
affection for Sweden and the - 
Her mother looks like goodne-; 

“ ‘ I cannot promise you 
house, ‘ but I will nurse you ! 

“ I could not but embrace 
is not continually ranging an 
while. I promised, neverthe 
the other side of Boston) on J 
with Christmas pine-twigs, Chi 
great ceremony. But more 1 
need — a little rest. 














MILTON HILL. 


141 


latter were tire unpublished manuscripts of the Massachusetts 
History, which by good fortune were recovered. 

All the articles saved from this vandal onslaught were re¬ 
moved to Milton, and from this time the Governor confined his 
residence to Milton Hill. 

It is very manifest that he was greatly attached to his 
suburban home and to his Milton neighbors, with whom he was 
a favorite. He mingled with them in social life, and worshipped 
with them in the same church. After reaching England he 
writes to his son at Milton, who still remained in the Milton 
house, apprizing him that he had “ shipped for his Milton garden 
a parcel of cuttings of much finer gooseberries than ever he saw 
in N. E.” He also, in the same letter, expresses anxiety about 
his pear orchard, and requests his son to “ have stocks that 
failed last year regrafted.” In another letter he says: — 

I can with good truth assure you that I had rather live at Milton than at 

Kew, and had rather see Peggy and Tommy and-playing about me 

than the Princess Charlotte Prince Augustus or - and I have no 

doubt that your sister is of the same mind: 

Again he writes Feb. 22, 1775 : — 

Mr dear Son. — I hope peace and order will return to you before the 
summer, and that I shall return before winter. If there is a prospect of 
my being serviceable I would return in my public character, which I have 
no doubt I may do if I choose. If the prejudices of the people continue 
and my friends think it most advisable I would endeavor to be content with 
a private station, in such a case the more obscure the more eligible. 

The remainder of the letter consists of a matter wholly 
private; a project which, he says, “ has for many years been on 
his mind.” He wishes to have a new tomb built at Milton, and 
the remains of his late wife, deceased twenty-one years before, 
deposited therein, with space for himself. He says : “ a T. in 
the B. y. at M.,” which can be no other than a tomb in the 
burying-yard at Milton. He directs where stone can be pro¬ 
cured, and “a mason at B. or in some other T.,” and bids him 
“ leave the wall or any ornament or inscription till I return, 
and the sooner it is finished the better.” 

His son, Thomas, had already left Milton, and withdrawn to 
Boston. He could not have received his father’s letter long 
before the battle of Lexington, as the transit of the mail re¬ 
quired a month or six weeks. Then rapidly followed the battle 
of Bunker Hill, the investment of Boston by Washington, and 
the confiscation of the estates of all royalists; hence this 
cherished design of the Governor was never carried out. More 



142 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


than a hundred years have elapsed. It is too late now to effect 
this purpose of our lamented citizen. Would it were otherwise ! 

The following extracts are from “ Notes and Queries,” pub¬ 
lished in London, 1869. These show the intense and unalterable 
longing of Governor Hutchinson to return to his native 
land: — 

May 15, 1779. Though I know not how to reason upon it, I feel a fond¬ 
ness to lay my bones in my native soil, and to carry those of my dear 
daughter with me. 

He alludes to his youngest daughter, Margaret, who died 
Sept. 21, 1777, and was buried in Croydon church-yard, where 
he was afterwards himself laid. 

Feb. l, 1780. The prospect of returning to America and laying my 
bones in the land of my forefathers for four preceding generations and 
if I add the mother of W. H., it will make five, is less than it has ever 
been. God grant me a composed mind, submissive to his will, and may I 
be thankful that I am not reduced to those straits which many others who 
are banished are and have been. 

Though in England he was looked upon as Governor of the 
Province, as General Gage had only a temporary military com¬ 
mand. It was thought that the Revolution would soon be brought 
to an amicable termination ; that he would then go out and re¬ 
sume his functions, and, therefore, in the mean time, he continued 
to enjoy a handsome salary. This is said to have been <£2,000 
per annum, but there is no documentary evidence to prove it. 

“ He died of heart disease or apoplexy on the 3d of June, 1780, 
as he was walking from the door of his house to his carriage to 
take an afternoon ride, as his custom was. His second son, 
Elisha, and his son-in-law, Dr. Peter Oliver, saw him stagger 
on the pavement and catch at his footman for support, and 
they ran downstairs to his assistance. He was led back 
into the Hall and placed in a chair, where he died almost im¬ 
mediately.” 

He was buried on the 9th of June, 1780, at Croydon, some 
ten miles south of London. In the summer of 1884 Hon. 
Edward L. Pierce, of Milton, visited the church at Croydon, 
and found that the interior of the church was burned some fifty 
years ago, and all the sepulchral monuments were destroyed, 
nor could he ascertain just where his body lies. It is, doubt¬ 
less, in the Croydon church-yard, where he is said to have been 
interred. 

In this connection the following lines, from an unknown 
source, are brought vividly to mind: — 




MILTON HILL. 


143 


“ Who blames the royal exile’s sigh, 

As from the deck his parting eye 
Takes a last look at these sweet vales, 

And for King’s sake tempts ocean gales? 

Nor pomp of courts, nor monarch’s smile, 

Could from his home his heart beguile. 

Not gilded bribes, nor leeches’ skill, 

Could longing cure for Milton Hill. 

To no disease his loyal spirit yields, 

But sinks, despairing of his absent fields.” 

After the battle of Lexington the town of Milton removed 
the furniture from Governor HutchinsonVhouse, to save it from 
utter ruin. Mr. Samuel Henshaw afterwards visited the house, 
and found in the garret a trunk full of papers, among which 
was the Governor’s letter-book, which he secured. Col. William 
Taylor removed from the house several trunks, and retained 
them for safe-keeping. A part of his goods 1 were sold at auction, 
at the barn of Colonel Taylor, standing'where the Town-House 
is now located. At this auction many citizens of Milton secured 
souvenirs of the Governor, still retained in our families. 

Extracts from the Governor’s diary are as follows : “ ’Tis said 
that Washington rides in my coach at Cambridge.”—“I hear 
that Milton House is a barrack for passing troops.” 


Grov. Hutchinson as Historian. 

Of Governor Hutchinson’s character as historian we have the 
following estimate in Everett’s Lexington address, 1835: — 

This valuable historian was on the stage for the entire generation pre¬ 
ceding the Revolution. For more than thirty years before it broke out he 
was a political leader in Massachusetts. From the close of the French war 
to the year 1775 he was probably the most confidential adviser of the crown, 
and for the chief part of the time the incumbent of the highest offices in its 
gift. He has brought the history of his native State down to the very 
moment when, on the eve of the war, he left America, never to return. 
Learned, sagacious, wary, conciliatory, and strongly disposed, as far as 
possible, to avoid the difficulties of his position; no man had better oppor¬ 
tunities of knowing the truth, and, after making proper allowance for his 
prejudices, few are entitled to greater credit in their statements. 


1 LEASE OE THE HUTCHINSON ESTATE. 


May 29, 1776. The Milton Committee of Correspondence Safety and Inspection by 
virtue of a Resolve of the General Court April 19 leased the real estate of Gov. Hutchin¬ 
son lying in Milton as follows: — 


To Mr. Samuel Henshaw jr. the dwelling-house, barn stable, yard & garden @ £13 16 6 

To Captain Daniel Vose part of the land @ .20 3 2 

To Mr. Nehemiah Clapp part of the land @ . 

To Mr. Adam Davenport part of the land @ . 

To Mr. Moses Hayden and John Boxanont house & part of the land @ 

To Mr. Joseph Jones part of the land @. 


£65 15 o 









144 


HISTORY OF MILTON L 


Judgment of his Character. 

In reviewing thus the life of one of Milton’s most honored 
citizens, who was universally respected and beloved by neighbors 
and townsmen, at this remote point of time, when all excitement 
of partisan feeling is over, and prejudice can no longer bias the 
judgment and prevent a candid and just estimate of his public 
and private career, one cannot help feeling that he was a true 
and honest man, of rigid loyalty to his official oath; and that his 
official acts, which were so repugnant to the spirit of the times, 
were dictated by a conscientious regard to loyalty and duty. 


HENRY MAURICE LISLE, ESQ. 

In the closing years of the last century, and early in the 
present, a lawyer of some note resided at Milton Lower Mills, 
by the name of Henry Maurice Lisle. In the years 1804 and 
1806 he appears as moderator of the annual town-meetings. 
The only further mention of Mr. Lisle in the records is found 
in a vote of the town, Aug. 6, 1804, by which he is appointed 
to defend the town in a certain action before the Supreme 
Court. The presumption is that his residence here was con¬ 
fined to a few years. He is referred to in this connection as 
being the author of a poem on Milton Hill, in 1803, which, 
from local and personal allusions, received a somewhat wide 
circulation. I first saw reference to this poem in a letter to a 
Milton lady, Mrs. Jesse Pierce, written from Savannah at the 
time of Rev. Dr. McKean’s visit there in the winter of 1803; 
and, after diligent search, secured a copy, perhaps the only one 
in Milton. 

The length of the poem precludes its insertion here in full, 
while portions of it, relating to events of that day, should not 
be omitted. 


MILTON HILL POEM. 

Whilst Mars’ harsh clarion sounds again the alarms, 
And calls once more Britannia’s sons to arms; 

Whilst Erance, contending at a madman’s nod, 

For England’s crown to deck her demigod, 

By base ambition’s views again has hurl’d 
War’s desolating weapons through the world, 

Again has caused the ensanguin’d tide to flow, 

Again has ope’d that catalogue of woe, 

Which France, degenerate, to the world has shown, 
Shrouded in blackest crimes, — crimes all her own, — 
How blest is he embower’d in rural shades, 

’Midst verdant lawns, and umbrage-covered glades, 




MILTON HILL. 


145 


Who feels no terror at the echoing car, 

Nor all the dreadful implements of war, 

But peaceful, happy, on a rustic seat, 

Courts the coy muse to visit his retreat. 

From Milton Hill unbounded scenes arise 
To charm the fancy—gratify the eyes. 

Thither with sylphic steps thy course pursue, 

And Nature’s choicest work with rapture view. 
Then when with gazing, visual powers grow faint, 
In bright description all its beauties paint. 

Nor need deceptive fiction’s flattering hue, 

In art-formed colors, gild the varied view. 

Her brilliant tints acknowledge at the test, 

That truth can here delineate the best. 

Mark well that spot where distant spires arise, 
Pointing their golden corselets to the skies, 

Of native oak, where yon tall vessels float 
And clustered masts commercial wealth denote, 
There Boston view, New England’s growing pride, 
Rising like Venus from her parent tide. 

Whilst dark oblivion Roman virtue shrouds, 

Her rising merits shall disperse the clouds, 
Factions contentious o’er the land has spread, 

And circle glory round Columbia’s head. 

Leaving this mart of commerce, turn thy eyes 
To where Columbia’s Standard proudly flies, 

Where yonder battlements sea-girted stand, 

The Castle rises to protect the land. 

In all directions hence, the eye may trace 
Unnumbered beauties o’er the aqueous space. 

Yon fertile islands clad by Ceres’ care, 

Emeralds in silver to the view appear. 

From one in chief 1 the ascending smoke descry, 
Where from the barques the crimson streamers fly. 
There anxious mariners shall furl the sail, 

Nor heed the inducement of the favoring gale, 

But still procrastinate that happy day. 

Anticipated o’er the trackless way, 

When sympathetic friends shall crowd the strand, 
And cordial greeting welcome them to land. 

When Phoebus hastens to the western main, 

And, sable night resumes the right to, reign, 

When the black clouds obscure the spangled sky, 
And hide fair Cynthia from the wanderer’s eye, 
When winds tempestuous burst Eolus’ cave, 

And Nereus guides the fury of the wave, 

Amidst the perils of the dreadful night, 

How joyous to the heart the well-known sight 
Of yon tall Lighthouse whose benignant ray 
Directs the helmsman o’er his boisterous way! 
And, as the winds and waves in concert roar, 
Guides him in safety to the long-sought shore. 


Quarantine. 




HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Turning from ocean’s surface, next survey 
The fir-clad mountains, which behind you lay. 

There the Great Blue Hill rears its cloud-capped head, 
And knotted oaks their verdant foliage spread; 

Behold its summit! View the rising stage 
That marks the weakness of the Iron Age, 

Proclaims that man is never satisfied 

With Nature’s works, whilst he’s a wish denied, 

But to the Andes still would add a foot, 

To paint the weakness of his species out. 

Extensive plains around its base, display 
The gaudy livery of the roseate May; 

Whilst Flora’s fragrant tribes their charms unite 
To fill the sense with exquisite delight. • 

From ’midst the scatter’d domes that westward lie, 
Milton’s fair spire attracts the wandering eye: 

With grief depicted on her beauteous face, 

The Muse dejected turned and viewed the place; 

Then wiping from her cheek the trickling tear, 

To great Olympus thus addressed her prayer: 

O Thou, who didst this blooming Eden form, 

Who guid’st the whirlwind and direct’st the storm, 

Who canst in mercy stay the fleeting breath, 

And wrest the victim from the grasp of death, 

From Milton's Pastor 1 bid disease begone , 

Save Science and the Muse’s favorite son! 

Bid sage Minerva dry her flowing tears! 

Bid pure Urania dissipate her fears! 

In mercy hear, in kind compassion speak, 

And health again shall blossom on his cheek. 

Again his lustrous periods fraught with sense, 

Again his matchless powers of eloquence, 

Shall charm the ear, instruct the ignorant mind, 

Convince the sceptic, and reclaim mankind. 

Thousands, in gratitude, with one acclaim, 

Shall chant their paeans to thy holy name, 

In songs of praise shall hallelujahs rise, 

And swelling chorus reach the vaulted skies. 

Words are too feeble, language is too mean, 

To paint the beauties of the varied scene 
Where Dorchester’s and Milton’s borders join, 

And Nature, Industry, and Art combine 
To form yon Village — to adorn the spot, 

And render man contented with his lot. 

May all its charms embellish nobler themes, 

Long as Neponset rolls her limpid streams. 

When fair Columbia’s rights, by means infernal, 

Practis’d by foes within and foes external, 

At hazard lay. And Gallic ministration 
Threatened our country with annihilation, — 

Their treaties broke — defied the avenging rod, 

Named death a bugbear — disavowed their God, 

And, deaf to pity’s cry, without emotion, 

Murder’d our helpless seamen on the ocean — 


'Dr. McKean. 




OTHER MILTON ESTATES. 


147 


Plunder’d our barques—rob’d pen’ry of her rag, 
And dyed, with native blood, Columbia’ flag. 

Then to evince their promptness to accede 
To all the measures wisdom had decreed, 

To save the country from her savage foes, 

By yonder Village Sons that Akch arose. 

There read the language of the federal band 
Who raised the structure, and, with valorous hand, 
Wrote this inscription, penned in freedom’s cause, 

“ We unite in defense of our country and laws.” 
An index to their honor may it stand! 

And sentiments like these pervade the land. 

Nature has here her greatest power essay’d, 

And gilds with smiles the paradise she made. 
Description fails, and colors are too faint, 

The boundless landscape’s scenery to paint. 

Nor picturesque prospects here alone can please 
Or crown the laborer with content and ease. 

But, with the product of a genial soil, 

Plenty rewards his anxious hours of toil. 

Ceres, with golden sheaves, his corn-barn stores, 
And from his press Pomona verjuice pours. 

The inclement winter comes without a sigh, 

And all his horrors pass unheeded by. 

Milton, adieu! Some nobler poet’s song 
In future periods shall this theme prolong. 

Who, whilst with transport he surveys this hill, 
Shall own the subject worthy of his skill. 

In smoother numbers shall the task rehearse 
And celebrate thy name in loftier verse. 

Milton, Adieu! Ne’er may thy beauties fade, 

Nor thy increasing domes be prostrate laid. 

Until the convulsed universe shall quake, 

And earth’s foundation to its centre shake. 


OTHER MILTON ESTATES. 

The estate of Governor Hutchinson extended on the westerly 
side of Adams street from his mansion to Eliot street and 
Ruggles lane. During his residence in Milton he laid out on 
his own land the passage-way now named High street, leaving 
a tract of about one hundred and twenty-five feet in width 
between this passage-way and Adams street, and five hundred 
and fifty feet in length, from Eliot street to Canton avenue. 
At that time Adams street, from the river up the hill, was 
very narrow, barely sufficient to allow carriages to pass each 
other, and was confined to the easterly side. For the widening 
of the street to its present dimensions Governor Hutchinson 
gave a strip of land twenty-five feet wide and five hundred 
and fifty feet long, reaching to Canton avenue; the remaining 



148 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


portion of his land east of High street was laid out into lots, 
fifty feet wide and one hundred feet deep. 

In the course of the years 1768-74 most of these lots were 
sold. No. 1, now owned by Mr. Johnson, was sold to Edward 
Wentworth; No. 2, to Nathaniel Gulliver; No. 8, to Lemuel 
Davis; No. 7, to Joseph Fenno; Nos. 8 and 9, to William Bad- 
cock; and No. 10, to Samuel Yose. These lots changed hands 
many times before they were finally improved and settled upon 
by actual residents. 

The hill was then much steeper than now. At the 
building of the railroad, in 1847, the land near the river was 
raised ten or fifteen feet. 

LAND SALE OE JAMES WABBEN. 

Hon. James Warren, the third owner of the Hutchinson 
estate, when about to remove to Plymouth, had that tract of 
land lying between Canton avenue, High street, Ruggles lane, 
and the river surveyed and divided into two sections. The 
line of division is the present wall between the Morton 
and Thompson estates. The westerly half was sold to Gen. Jacob 
Gill, in 1795, and the easterly half to Gov. Edw. H. Robbins. 
On this tract Governor Robbins built the Morton house. In 1800, 
Aug. 22, he sold this to Samuel Cabot, of Boston. In 1805 Mr. 
Cabot sold the same to William R. Miller. After Mr. Miller’s 
death, in 1815, his brother James and his sisters lived for a while 
in the Morton house, and then sold to Joseph Morton. The old 
house that stood on the Degan land, near Canton avenue, and 
opposite Mr. Samuel Gannett’s house, was built by Mr. John Wads¬ 
worth. It afterwards came into the hands of Atherton Tucker. 
Subsequently the Millers, who had left, returned to Milton and 
bought this place, where some of the remaining members of the 
family lived and died. In the gale of 1815 the roof of this house 
was secured by ropes to save it from destruction. 

Miss Annette Miller built the Degan house forty-five years 
ago, for a young ladies’ seminary, which, if ever fully estab¬ 
lished, continued but for a short time. The property passed 
into the possession of Mrs. Gen. Whitney, and her daughter, 
Mrs. Degan, inherited it from her mother. 

The Millers sold a corner lot to John Durell, on which he 
built the house now owned by F. M. Severance. 

THE JACOB GILL LAND. 

Isaac Sanderson married a daughter of Jacob Gill, and came 
into possession of the westerly half of the land. He was a 




OTHER MILTON ESTATES. 


149 


paper-maker here in 1798, and lived in the house occupied by 
the late Dr. Ware. This tract was sold by Sanderson and the 
heirs of Jacob Gill to Mrs. Dr. Jonathan Ware; a portion of it 
is still owned by her heirs, upon which they have erected a hand¬ 
some residence. The other owners are Mrs. George Thompson, 
E. L.'Pierce, heirs of Capt. J. G. Pierce, Miss Susan C. Richardson, 
and Thomas Quinn. Gen. Jacob Gill lived in a house that stood 
where the shoe-shop and building of S. W. Johnson now stands ; 
he bought of Ann Adams Dec. 12, 1782. He was a hatter by 
trade, occupying for a shop the location covered by the provision- 
store of George Everett. He died in Milton Sept. 20, 1820. 

ESTATES ON ADAMS STREET. 

Plummer & Swift bought the old Gill house and land, and 
erected a two-and-a-half story building; in the basement con¬ 
fectionery was manufactured; stores occupied the first floor; 
and above was the Odd Fellows’ Hall. The roof was burned 
away Jan. 11, 1848, and the building was then finished in the 
way it now appears. 

The old Mill house stood on land now occupied by the 
chocolate mill, near the railroad; adjoining was Mr. Collins’ 
wheelwright’s shop; subsequently he occupied part of a build¬ 
ing where Mr. Everett’s provision store now stands. 

In early times the land on the west side of Adams street 
was a high bank, covered with small buildings; as the houses 
were built it was lowered to its present level, and the fronts of 
most of the present houses were ranged exactly on the westerly 
line of the street. 

The house owned by Rufus L. Chapman was built by Major 
Phinehas Paine; he lived there until 1805 or 6, and then removed 
to Concord; it was afterwards owned by James Campbell, 
whose daughter R. L. Chapman married. Joseph Fenno, who 
was connected in business with Daniel Vose, built the house 
now owned by E. L. Pierce. In the midst of his activities he 
was drowned while getting a vessel up the river, and his estate 
passed into the hands of his widow. She married a Mr. Melius 
and had a son who became a sea-captain, and a daughter who 
married Benjamin Crehore. Mrs. Melius died February, 1814, 
when the estate descended to her children. Capt. Melius took 
the Pierce house. The shop of Benjamin Crehore, which stood 
on the land, was moved back from the street, enlarged, and 
fitted into the house adjoining that of Mr. Pierce, the basement 
serving as a shop; this was conveyed to Mrs. Crehore. 

About the year 1798 Capt. Lewis Yose and Benjamin Crehore 



150 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


bought one of the lots between Adams and High streets, 
and began to build a house in company. Mr. Crehore was a 
piano-maker, earning four or five dollars per day. Capt. Yose 
was a harness-maker, realizing about a tenth part of the earn¬ 
ings of his fortunate neighbor; he, however, was a cautious, 
provident man, while Crehore spent lavishly, with little regard 
to circumstances. The result was that, as the building pro¬ 
gressed, Capt. Yose was called upon to meet the payments, and 
finally became sole possessor of the Yose house, which has 
continued in the family to the present time, and belongs to the 
estate, a part of which was so kindly and thoughtfully be¬ 
queathed by Miss Sarah Yose, the last immediate descendant of 
the family, in legacies to Milton Public Library, and to the 
deserving poor of Milton. The personal estate was given to 
the Library, and the real estate, after the death of present 
occupants, was given to the minister and deacons of the First 
Congregational Parish of Milton, for the poor of the town. 

The house on the corner of Adams street and Canton avenue 
was purchased by Samuel K. Glover of Samuel Yose. Dr. 
Glover sold it to Ebenezer Yose, Jan. 5, 1794, for <£450 lawful 
money. Jan. 13, 1798, Ebenezer Yose sold to Isaac Williams, 
of Roxbury. April 30, 1806, Williams sold to Moses Whitney 
the house and buildings, with about one quarter of an acre of 
land, for $2,100. It was used by Gen. Whitney as a post-office, 
and as a morocco manufactory. It is now owned by Mr. Robert 
Gordon. 

DANIEL VOSE. 

Daniel Yose married Rachel, daughter of Jeremiah Smith. 
In company with Joseph Fenno, he bought of Mr. Smith a 
piece of land on the east side of Adams street, near the way 
leading to the public landing-place, where the pump now 
stands. There they erected a building serving as a dwelling- 
house and store. In this building they traded for fourteen 
years. In the mean time Mr. Fenno having been drowned, and 
the business increasing greatly on the hands of Mr. Yose, he 
was led to put up a store seventy-five feet long and forty-five feet 
wide, with conveniences for residence above, occupying nearly 
the same ground as Associates’ Hall. This was burned in 1860. 
The old house was removed and enlarged, and now stands 
next to the Milton depot, memorable as the building in which 
the “ Suffolk Resolves ” were passed Sept. 9, 1774. It is now 
owned by the Hon. N. F. Safford. Dr. Holbrook occupied the 
old house before its removal, and also, for a time, the house in 
its present location. 



OTHER MILTON ESTATES. 


151 


COMPARISON. 

All these men and women who figured here in days gone by 
have passed to other scenes; and with them, in the progress of 
years, and in the changed condition of things, have disap¬ 
peared the attractive features of old-time life. Progress exacts 
its penalties, but in the long run gives more than it takes. 

In admiration of the “ good old times ” comparisons are 
often made to the disadvantage of the present age. While not 
insensible to the elegant costumes, the stately manners, the 
chivalric feeling, and the devoted piety of a by-gone age, we 
nevertheless believe that true nobility of character, genuine 
kindliness of heart, and unfaltering loyalty to Grod, have not 
passed away with old fashions in dress, and old styles in furni¬ 
ture, and with the loved and honored of “ Auld Lang Syne.” 

The old times were good, but the new are fresher, brighter, 
broader. 


Oh! the pleasant days of old, which 
So often people praise ! 

True, they wanted all the luxuries that 
Grace our modern days ; 

Bare floors were strewn with rushes, — 
The walls let in the cold; 

Oh! how they must have shivered 
In those pleasant days of old! 

Oh! those blessed times of old! 

With their chivalry and state; 

I love to read their chronicles, which 
Such brave deeds relate; 

I love to sing their ancient rhymes, 

To hear their legends told. 

But Heaven be thanked ! I live not 
In those blessed times of old! 


Frances Brown. 


152 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 



CHAPTER YI. 


OLD HOUSES, CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. 


“ While to the south the front is found, 

The hinder roof goes sloping to the ground. 

Before the shady door the cows and geese repose, 

While near are pumpkins ranged in yellow rows. 

There the tall well-sweep reaches to the sky, 

And here are apples hung on strings to dry.” 

S we trace out the pathways of those who have been before 



-CA us, and find here and there the outlines of a cellar, marking 
the dwelling-place of some one of the early inhabitants; or follow 
the stone wall along the parallel lines far into the woods, prob¬ 
ably the work of those who first occupied the land, and undis¬ 
turbed from that day; or discover the old well of some early 
settler, the mind is borne back, and we live amid the scenes 
of other days and other men. 

Almost all of our privileges are thus associated with others who 
have been instrumental in conveying them over to our posses¬ 
sion. Other men have labored here before us; we have en¬ 
tered into their labors. In the place of our residence we are 
always walking amidst the monuments of preceding genera¬ 
tions. 

The houses we inhabit, the streets we traverse, the trees 
that hang over us, the sanctuaries we frequent, — all bespeak 
the agency of other beings who have preceded us in this place 
of our sojourn. 





OLD HOUSES , CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. 


153 


Before our fathers was the Indian. He was the rightful and 
original proprietor of this domain. Over these hills he wan¬ 
dered unmolested, and free as the winds that blow. Our val¬ 
leys and plains were his garden-spots. The river was his pas¬ 
sage-way to the hunting and trapping grounds above ; and below 
the falls, to the islands and fishing-places in the Bay. 

There is abundant evidence that Unquity was his chosen re¬ 
sort and abiding-place. The land conveyed to Israel Stoughton, 
who was among the first to receive a grant from the London 
Company, which embraced a territory of one hundred acres, 
situated on the.south side of Neponset river, is described in the 
grant as the “ Indian Field.” 

The hill on which Col. H. S. Bussell and H. J. Gilbert reside, 
sloping back towards Pine-Tree Brook, is described in the laying- 
out of one of our roads as “ Wigwam Hill; ” while “ Thacher’s 
Plain,” situated on the northerly side of Pine-Tree Brook, 
composing the area lying between Brook road and Mattapan 
street, by well-authenticated tradition, was used as one of 
their places for raising corn. 

At this time Nature was in her primeval simplicity, undis¬ 
turbed except by the red man who roamed through the forests. 

In the year 1656 Capt. Samuel Wadsworth moved to Milton 
and took possession of one hundred acres of land on Wads¬ 
worth Hill, where Capt. E. D. Wadsworth now resides, which 
was then a wilderness without roads, and a mile from any other 
inhabitant. 

The first public way of which there is any record is the road 
passing from the bridge, at the mill, over Milton Hill. 

THE FIRST HOUSE. 

On this way the first house in Milton was erected by Richard 
Collicut, in 1634, near the corner of Adams and Centre streets. 
In December, 1634, an order was passed regulating a passage¬ 
way to Collicut’s house in the Great Lots. This was in the 
wilderness, a mile from the river on the extreme outskirts of the 
colony, and subject to attack from the Indians, who, at that 
time, were more or less troublesome. Many suppose it was 
partly fortified, or what was called a “ Garrison House,” for 
the purpose of repelling such invasion. In July, 1636, “ The 
Town of Dorchester has leave to use Collicut’s house as a watch- 
house.” 

Several of our ancient houses were of a peculiar architecture, 
the second story projecting over the first, two or three feet, 
thus presenting an appearance somewhat belligerent. Embra- 


154 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


sures and openings for musketry are spoken of. Of this de¬ 
scription was the house of Anthony Gulliver, at East Milton; 
the house of Col. Elijah Yose, on Gun Hill street; of William 
Yose, on “ Yose’s Lane,” and the Hensher house, on the Beal’s 
place, corner of Centre street and Randolph avenue, just where 
the new academy now stands. 

It is a well-known fact that, as the early inhabitants were sub¬ 
ject to these sudden attacks from the Indians, some of the 
houses were built in a manner to repel such attacks, as the 
Craddock house, in Medford. This was more common in 
interior towns, where garrison houses were built in almost every 
village. The inhabitants took arms with them into the fields, 
and even to church. 

“ Each man equipped on Sunday morn 

With Psalm book, shot and powder-horn.” 

It is most likely, however, that these old Milton houses with 
the projecting fronts were built according to the style prevalent 
at that time, and which is still continued in old English towns, — 
a style which is also in a fair way of being reproduced in our 
day and town. 

On this early pathway sprang up many houses during the first 
century of the town’s existence, most of which are spoken of in 
the chapter on Milton Hill. In the immediate vicinity of the 
Collicut house the houses not elsewhere described, which have 
now disappeared, are as follow: On the south-west corner of 
Pleasant and Adams streets, one occupied by S. T. Bent and 
J. Myers; on the north-west corner of Centre and Adams 
street, that of Capt. Jonathan Beal; on the north-east side of 
Adams street, the houses of W. Badcock, Rawson, Capt. Samuel 
Reed, Benjamin Field, and Hezekiah Adams, a baker, and also 
the bakery of Mr. Bent, built of wood, and subsequently, large 
additions, built of brick, in the rear. 

EAST MILTON. 

The village of East Milton is of comparatively recent growth. 
Most of the houses have been built since the granite business 
was established in that vicinity. On the first day of January, 
1834, there were in that part of the town, east of the junction of 
Adams and Squantum streets, but fourteen houses, one hotel,— 
the Railway House, — one meeting-house, and one grocery store. 
Four of these have disappeared, and the places where they stood 
are now vacant. 


OLD HOUSES , CELLARS , AND LANDMARKS. 


155 


The old Willard Felt house is the one now standing west of 
the stone cottage; the stone cottage was Mr. Felt’s blacksmith 
and wheelwright shop, now transformed into a pleasant resi¬ 
dence. 

The Capt. Lemuel Pierce house stood where the Samuel Bab¬ 
cock house now stands. It was bought by Mr. Babcock and 
moved up towards the ledges on Willard street. 

The house of Capt. William Pierce, the 3d, stood in the gar¬ 
den of the stone tavern. It was converted into a store, and re¬ 
moved about 1826, or later. 

The house of Capt. Rufus Pierce is the one-story gambrel- 
roof house now standing next to the East Milton R.R. Station. 
It was formerly a tavern. 

Deacon Lemuel Adams lived on the north side of Adams street, 
in the rear of the large house built by the widow of Charles 
Adams. He carried on a tannery there, and his sons after him. 
Deacon John Adams lived in the present Gardner house. 

In the rear of Nathaniel H. Beals’ house was an old cellar, 
marking the residence of Rev. Grindall Rawson. He was born in 
Milton, July 29, 1721, the son of Pelatiah and Hannah Rawson ; 
graduated at Harvard 1741, and died 1794. He was a Congre¬ 
gational clergyman, and removed from Milton to the Cape. 
“Harper’s Monthly,” in an article on eccentric clergymen, gave 
some of the sayings of Mr. Rawson. 

An old house stood on the east side of Squantum street, near 
the Quincy line, where lived Patty or Letty Pierce, and for a 
time old “ Jemmy Raven.” They formerly lived near the resi¬ 
dence of Josiah Babcock. 

All other sites and houses in this vicinity are described in the 
chapter on Milton Hill. 

CANTON AVENUE AND VICINITY. 

Caleb Hobart, who was first a butcher, began the wool busi¬ 
ness about 1811, in a shop standing on Canton avenue, in the 
rear of the Godfrey house, which he built; afterwards he re¬ 
moved the shop to a position just north of the Ruggles house, 
and continued in the business until 1837. 

Ruggles Lane is a very ancient passage-way. Passing the 
Ruggles house it pursued a westerly course across Central ave¬ 
nue, and through the fields and woods to Brook road. There is 
no evidence that it was ever a public way; but it is highly 
probable that it may have been of earlier date than Brook road, 
a part of which, between Mr. Dudley’s and Mattapan, was not 
laid out until 1694. 


156 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


In 1826 Caleb Hobart built a house on the north-easterly- 
corner of Ruggles lane for Charles Breck, then in his employ, 
where Mr. Breck began his married life. It was removed many 
years ago. Another house, standing near this, in the garden of 
Miss Richardson, was burned in 1884. 

The Ruggles house is of great antiquity. The old part was 
probably built by Robert Badcock, who died in 1694. The new 
part was built by Caleb Hobart about 1820. He lived there in 
1797. 

Mr. Caleb Hobart purchased land in this vicinity as early 
as 1797 of John and Abiel White, of Weymouth. He also 
bought, in 1797, a tract west of Central avenue of the execu¬ 
tors of Abijah Sumner, on which were an orchard and an old 
cellar, and in 1800 he secured a right of way to said land from 
Joseph Badcock. June 5, 1827, he bought of Richard Blake, of 
Weymouth, the front land lying between the Ruggles house and 
Canton avenue; and in 1829 a tract of Henry B. Smith, called 
the Small Pasture, at $30 an acre. 

Philarman Ruggles began to occupy the Caleb Hobart estate 
June 25, 1843. It was sold to T. Edwin Ruggles in 1867. The 
old cellar north of the Ruggles house and east of the brook is 
said to mark the quarters of a slave of old Robert Badcock. 
There is the legend that this slave, by prudent savings, accumu¬ 
lated quite a sum of money, all in silver, and for safe-keeping 
buried it in the “ Great Pasture ” (now owned by N. F. Safford), 
which is yet to be found. Another statement would place a 
very different occupant in the house once standing there. In a 
conversation with Mr. Edmund J. Baker regarding this cellar, 
Mrs. Daniel Vose said that her sister, when a very young girl, 
used to read the various publishments in the meeting-house to 
her young companions so easily as to excite remark. In explana¬ 
tion, she told her sister that she learned to read writing from a 
clergyman living on the back side of Milton Hill, near the 
brook, who taught her with his own daughter. Others suppose 
Teague Crehore lived there; and, as there was quite a good 
road to this house within the century, it is highly probable that 
it was something more than slaves’ quarters. 

On the old pathway between Central avenue and Brook road 
are two cellars; the one nearest Brook road, according to Mr. 
Robbins, is the cellar of the Teague Crehore house,—Mr. Crehore 
was one of Milton’s first inhabitants. In the other house, near 
Central avenue, probably owned by some of the White family, 
the location of which is now discovered only by a depression in 
the surface of the land, some one or more, in other days, to us 
unknown, “ lived and loved and passed away.” 




OLD HOUSES, CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. 


157 


Fifty years ago a house and barn stood on the east side of 
Central avenue, on the rising ground in the rear of the resi¬ 
dence of Mr. W. Cunningham. The passage to it was from 
Brook road, over the brook. Here for a time lived Oliver Vose. 
Directly opposite this, on the west side of the avenue, well up 
towards the Dudley house, was another house. 

On the westerly side of Brook road, between the extension of 
Central avenue and the front land of Dr. Littlefield, was the 
house of Peter White ; no trace of it now remains. He was a 
prominent man in the early history of the town, and his memory 
is perpetuated by White’s Lane, and now by White street, which 
bears his name. He died Jan. 23, 1736, aged 77. 

Elijah Yose lived in the old homstead of Robert Yose, built 
by John Glover. It was situated near the brook, at the junc¬ 
tion of Brook road and Canton avenue. The guide-posts at 
the corner stand just where the old cellar was seen a few years 
since. At this point the brook took the name of Sarah, his 
wife, and was called “Aunt Sarah’s Brook.” In the stormy 
time of the Revolution, when her husband was dead, and her 
children were all in the army, it is said that “Aunt Sarah ” often 
sat knitting at the door, inquiring of every passer-by : “ What 
news from the war ? I have four sons in the war. What news 
from the war ? ” 

Years ago the house on Canton avenue, now owned by Mrs. 
Godfrey, was the Alpheus French house. Capt. French lived 
there, and carried on a large business, as butcher, taking up the 
work of Caleb Hobart. Subsequently the place was bought by 
Mr. William Davis; the house was enlarged and greatly im¬ 
proved. He moved the slaughter-house to his land, near the 
brook, and converted it into the dwelling-house now occupied 
by Mr. W. Cunningham. 

In the year 1809, and before, there was an old-fashioned tan- 
yard between the Davis house and the house now owned by 
Miss Willard. It was carried on by Major Babcock, who built 
and occupied the Davis house, now owned by Mrs. White. The 
business was discontinued at the death of Major. Babcock, in 
1812. 

Gen. Joseph Yose built the house on the corner of Canton 
avenue and Yose’s Lane, now owned and occupied by his 
grandchildren, prior to 1761. This gives it an age of one hun¬ 
dred and twenty-five years. In this house all his children were 
born. In a letter received from one of his descendants is the 
following sentence: “ He, unfortunately, for his ambitious pos¬ 
terity, put in neither gas nor a bath-room into his house,” 

In the latter part of the last century, the Hobson house, which 


158 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 



was moved to its present position from near Gun Hill street, 
was occupied by Josiah Yose, as a summer residence. Oliver 
Yose lived there for several years. It finally passed into the 
possession of Zephaniah Spurr, with much of the adjacent land, 
Spurr having married into the Yose family. At the decease of 
Mr. Spurr his estate in Milton was sold at auction by his heirs, 
in 1824. The whole tract of ten acres, lying between Yose’s 
Lane, Canton avenue, and Centre street, now known as the 
“ Whitney Lot,” was sold to Asaph Churchill for the sum of $100. 
The next morning General Whitney met Mr. Churchill with 
the question, “ What will you take for your bargain ? ” — “ One 
hundred dollars,” was the reply. “I’ll give it,” said the 
General. “ Yery well,” said Mr. C. “ Now what will you take 
for your bargain ? ” — “ One hundred dollars,” was the reply. 
“ Cheap enough,” responded Mr. C., “ but I’ll not part with one 
hundred dollars quite so suddenly.” 

The house under the big elm, and twenty-four acres lying 
between Brook road and Canton avenue, with about twenty 





























OLD HOUSES, CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. 


159 


acres in the rear of the house, were knocked off to Harvey Yose 
for $1,500. Two tracts of woodland near by were sold at the 
same auction to Caleb Hobart, one for eight dollars, the second 
for sixteen dollars, per acre. Soon after the auction the heirs, 
thinking they had parted with their property foolishly, bought 
back of Mr. Yose the house and the twenty acres in the rear, 
and also the land between Brook road and Canton avenue, pay¬ 
ing for it all the money received for the entire sale. 

The house now owned and occupied by Mr. Seth D. and Mrs. 
A. D. T. Whitney, on Canton avenue and Yose’s Lane, was built 
by Isaac D. Yose, second son of Gen. Joseph Yose, and after¬ 
wards merchant in New Orleans. It stood near the Barnard 
mansion, and was moved upon the Whitney land when pur¬ 
chased by Mr. Whitney. It had been owned successively by 
Henderson Inches, Yalentine O. B. Brown, John D. Bradlee, 
and Charles Barnard. 

On the north-easterly corner of Reedsdale street and Canton 
avenue stood the house built by Joseph Calf, about 1760. The 
name was afterwards changed to Calef. At the decease of Mr. 
Calef it was conveyed to Ezra Coats, by Ebenezer Winter, and 
Stephen Calef, May 17, 1798. Jason Reed, Esq., graduate of 
Harvard, 1816, and for many years Town Clerk and Treasurer 
of Milton, married Nancy Elizabeth Coats. Ezra Coats died in 
November, 1824, and his farm of forty-five acres came into 
the possession of Jason Reed, by various deeds from the heirs. 
In 1884 the house was taken down, and a new one erected by 
C. E. C. Breck, who purchased a portion of the front land of 
the Reed estate. Mr. Reed’s store, and hall above the store, 
stood west of the house, just where Reedsdale road now opens. 

The house now owned by G. S. Cushing was built by Rev. 
Samuel W. Cozzens in 1838. When Dr. Cozzens left Milton, 
it was sold to Edward Baldwin, April 1, 1848. It has been 
transformed from a square, stiff structure into the present light 
and airy abode. 

The house and barn of Rev. John Taylor, built by himself 
about 1738, stood where the Town Hall now stands. It was 
occupied by the Taylor family until it was burned, Sept. 22, 
1864. 

North-east of the Unitarian Church was a red store, removed 
sixty years ago to the land of Charles Stone, on Randolph 
turnpike, where it now stands, south of the cottage, on the 
corner of Centre street and Randolph avenue. Mr. Stone kept 
store in a part of his house, which stood on the corner. 

After the red store was moved away, Capt Charles Taylor 
built a store about where the old Town House used to stand, 





160 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


for his brother Joseph. This, too, was moved, and now forms 
the front portion of Mr. Charles Breck’s house. 

Opposite the Academy house, on the easterly corner of Can¬ 
ton avenue and Highland street, in the low land now owned by 
Messrs. Cushing & Whitwell, was a tannery, carried on by one 
of the Pitchers. 

James Read owned a large tract of land on the south and 
west side of Canton avenue and Highland street. About a 
hundred years ago he built a house on the site now occupied by 
the Silsbee mansion. This was removed by Mr. Silsbee, and 
now stands south-east of his residence, on Highland street. 

On the east side of Highland street, at the top of the hill, 
where Mr. Spafford now lives, stood the residence of Jazeniah 
Ford, built by Dr. Enos Sumner, in 1771. Mr. Ford married 
Abigail, the daughter of Seth Sumner, and sister of Dr. Sumner. 
At the decease of Dr. Sumner the house and land descended to 
his sister. Near the house was Mr. Ford’s factory, in which 
playing-cards were manufactured. This building was burned 
Sept. 4, 1861, and the house at a more recent date. 

Thomas Read, the son of James, lived on the south-westerly 
corner of Canton avenue and Highland street. He was a hatter 
by trade, and had a building there in which he manufactured 
hats, which was afterwards changed into his dwelling-house. 
No traces of it now remain, but some of our citizens remember 
the building and the business there carried on. 

Enoch Fenno bought of J. Smith Boies a tract of land, near 
which Thacher street runs, of one hundred and four acres, ad¬ 
joining and including the estate once owned by Rev. Peter 
Thacher. He lived in the Thacher house until it was burned, 
and was engaged in the pottery business. The manufactory was 
on the point of land between Thacher and Mattapan streets. 
There are traces of a pond on the land marking the spot where 
he obtained clay for his works. After the Thacher house was 
burned, in 1798, the pottery building was converted into a 
dwelling-house, where Mr. Fenno lived for years. This, too, 
was burned about forty years ago, but the cellar is still seen, 
over a portion of which a house is now being erected. The 
cellar of the Thacher house may be found on the westerly side 
of Thacher street, about fifteen rods north of Pine-tree Brook. 
A large elm is growing out of it, and two large flat stones, 
which, perhaps, were steps, lie near by; while the old well and 
the cellar drain are distinctly seen. This house, when built, 
was near the travelled way, as will be seen in the chapter on 
Highways and By-ways. All the travel from the east part of the 
town and beyond, to the fresh meadows, and to Dedham, 




OLD HOUSES, CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. ' 161 


evidently took this direction, as Canton avenue, if laid out, was 
not passable. The footpath, from Brush Hill to the meeting¬ 
house, laid out Jan. 30, 1674, must have entered this road at 
about this point. A short distance north was the Jonathan 
Badcock house (now Mr. Dudley’s), and between the Badcock 
house and the Thacher house was the house of Ezra Clapp, the 
nearest neighbor, and the true and lasting friend of his pastor. 

At the decease of Mr. Thacher, Oxenbridge, the eldest son, 
occupied the place while he lived; and probably Oxenbridge, 
the distinguished patriot, the son of Oxenbridge, lived there, as 
he was a resident of Milton for several years. His sons, Peter 
and Thomas, were born in Milton. Miss Hannah Vose, daughter 
of Moses, who lived in the Jonathan Badcock house most of her 
life, has left the record that the Thacher house, then owned by 
Enoch Fenno, was burned in 1798. 

POUND. 

The present Pound was built in 1774. This was an impor¬ 
tant institution in early days, when cattle and swine were turned 
loose on the highways. 

The first Pound, in 1670, was on Mr. Cushing’s land, near 
White street. The second, 1711, stood on the lot of John 
Trott, near the Parish Parlor. The third stood where the par¬ 
sonage of Dr. McKean was erected; and the fourth was built 
as follows: — 

June 27 1774 voted that Capt. Tucker Mr. Brinsmead Hunt, and Mr. 
John Bradley he a committee to consider of the most convenient spot for 
the town to build a pound on and to report at this meeting; accordingly 
the said committee reported that, in their judgment, the most convenient 
spot for a pound, is on the ministerial land nearly opposite the lane leading 
to the house of Joshua and Benjamin Yose, and said report was accepted 
by the Town. 

Benjamin Read, son of James, built the house under the “big 
oak,” opposite the Pound. He married a daughter of Joshua 
Yose, who owned the house up the lane built by Elijah or Ben¬ 
jamin Wadsworth in 1765. 1 Hannah Vose, daughter of Joshua, 


1 “ To be sold by Public Auction at the house of William Badcock near Milton 
Bridge on Tuesday the seventeenth day of November next at n oclock A M the 
farm of Mr Elijah Wadsworth of said Milton containing forty five acres, lying on the 
High road near the Meeting house; it is inclosed and divided almost wholly with stone 
walls, and has about two acres of good orchading. The soil is veiy good and is improvable 
both for pasture and tillage. A large handsome dwelling House has been lately built upon 
a small eminence near the road extremely well situated for a gentlemans Seat?’ — Boston 
Evening Post, Oct. 5 , 1767 . 

This was a sheriff’s sale; the place was purchased by Benjamin Vose, tailor, and at 
that date first passed into the Vose family. May 25,1769J the north-westerly half was con¬ 
veyed by Benjamin to his brother, Joshua Vose. 



162 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


married Joseph M. Shepherd, and thus the Yose house passed 
into the Shepherd family. Benjamin Read was a pump-maker, 
and his son, J. Elijah Read, who inherited his estate, was a pump- 
maker, as well as shoemaker; his heirs now live on their 
father’s estate. 

The old house that stood on the easterly drive-way to Col. H. 
S. Russell’s mansion, an eighth of a mile from Canton avenue, 
the site of which is now covered by his farm-house, was built 
and occupied by Deacon Cornelius Gulliver. Jonathan Gulliver, 
and other descendants of Anthony, who owned a large tract on 
Wigwam Hi ll, probably lived near Cornelius. There is an old 
cellar on the Churchill land, a short distance from the house of 
Cornelius, and the site of a house on the Russell land, but a few 
rods south-east of the deacon’s house. Some suppose these cel¬ 
lars mark the former residence of some of the Yose family. 

John Gulliver, who was a carpenter, built the house now 
belonging to Col. Russell, opposite that of E. D. Fairbank, where 
also he had his shop. He died in 1804. Lemuel, his son, whose 
daughter married Josiah Fairbank, built the Fairbank house, 
and in settling his father’s estate sold his father’s house to 
Misses Polly, Lizzie, and Mindwell Sumner. They were excellent 
Christian women. “ Aunt Mindy,” who survived her sisters, is 
remembered by many of us as a beautiful example of gentleness 
and patience under deprivations and sufferings. 

In the field of Col. Russell, midway between the old Robbins 
house and the house occupied by the Miss Sumners, once stood 
a house, doubtless the residence of one of the Gullivers. 

On the north-west side of Canton avenue, nearly opposite 
the homestead of Rev. Nathaniel Robbins, is seen the cellar 
of the old Milton parsonage. The parsonage was built by the 
town for Dr. McKean, in 1T98. It was occupied by Dr. Gile for 
many years, and was finally conveyed to him by the parish. It 
was sold by the heirs of Lewis Tucker, who married Mary P. 
Gile, to Col. B. S.Rotch, the present owner. After the decease 
of her husband, Mrs. Gile was accustomed, during the summer 
months, to receive into her family friends from the city. In the 
summer of 1838 Rev. Dr. Charles Follen, with his wife and their 
only child, Charles C. Follen, then nine years old, boarded at 
Mrs. Gile’s. Dr. William Ellery Channing visited him there 
and remained a week. Our honored citizen, Edward L. Pierce, 
then nine years old, was boarding at the same place, attending 
school with the other boys at Milton Academy. His seat at the 
table was directly opposite Dr. Channing; and he bears in his 
mind to this day the impression then made by the benign and 
placid countenance of Dr. Channing, suggesting to his boyish 




OLD HOUSES, CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. 


163 


conception the countenance of St. John, the beloved disciple. 
Dr. Channing’s widow passed the last years of her life in Milton 
with her son-in-law, Rev. F. A. Enstis. 

Mrs. Follen, the biographer of her husband, thus speaks of 
Mrs. Gile, their hostess, vol. I., p. 487 : — 

The peaceful retirement which Dr. Follen enjoyed at Milton was balm 
to his wearied and exhausted spirits. The surrounding country was beau¬ 
tiful, and our accommodations were excellent. Our hostess was the widow 
of an excellent orthodox clergyman, who, with her family, ministered to us 
with that watchful kindness which is the recognition of that great bond of 
fellowship that should bind together all those who are disciples of the same 
Master. She often called upon Dr. Follen to lead her family devotions; 
and it must be a source of melancholy joy to her to remember the truly 
Christian communion in which we dwelt together in her house. 

Longfellow has left a record of his visit to Dr. Follen while 
he was boarding at Mrs. Gile’s. 1 

Rev. Dr. S. K. Lothrop, with his wife and son, Thornton, was 
boarding at the same time with James Breck, who lived nearby. 
The Doctors Follen and Lothrop were in constant and joyous 
fellowship during that summer in Milton. It was but two years 
before the burning of the Steamer “ Lexington,” on which Dr. 
Follen was a passenger. 

But a short distance south-west from the Gile house, on the 
same side of Canton avenue, stood the house and cabinet-shop 
of James Breck. When the present Gilbert mansion was built 
by William H. Davis, the buildings were removed; the main 
house now stands on the south-west corner of Canton avenue 
and Harland street, and the wing on Harland street. 

Within fifty feet of Canton avenue, on the westerly side of 
the main avenue to Col. Russell’s mansion, stood the Samuel 
Keys house; no trace of it now remains. Mr. Keys married 
Hannah Gulliver, daughter of Nathaniel, son of Anthony, by 
whom he had six children. 

The stone built into the wall in front of the Gilbert mansion 
on Canton avenue, bearing the inscription, “ Boston I.G. 1776,” 
was designed to mark the distance from that point to Boston, — 
eight miles. The lettering was done by Lemuel Gulliver. He 
placed upon it the initials of his father, John Gulliver, who put 
the stone in position. The I and J were then used indiscrim¬ 
inately. 


i Longfellow’s Life, Vol. i., p. 297. Journal, Sept. 15, 1838. “A glorious morning; 
bright, and not too warm. Drove with Mrs. Eliot to Milton Hill to see the Follens. 
Found them buried in trees, in complete solitude and seclusion. The broad-fronted Ger¬ 
man is writing a book on the soul. Milton Hill commands a grand prospect over villages, 
fields, forests, and the city, to the great sea itself, stretching blue and vapory beyond.” 



164 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


POWDER—HOUSE. 

The powder-house, now standing on the grounds of Mr. Gil¬ 
bert, east of the avenue to the mansion of B. S. Rotcb, was built 
in 1811. 

The committee reported May 6,1811, that they are of opinion that one built 
of brick, eight feet square on the ground, six and a half feet high with an 
arch turned oyer the top, with a wooden roof, would cost one hundred dol¬ 
lars, and do recommend such a building for the consideration of the town. 
Voted to accept the foregoing report, and ordered the said Committee, with 
the Select men to build a Powder House on the Church land in Milton 
according to the dimensions recommended by the committee and of the 
materials by them set forth in the most prudent way at their discretion; 
and the Select men are directed to make draughts on the Treasurer for the 
money to carry the same into effect. 

In tbis building the selectmen met every year to make car¬ 
tridges for the annual muster, up to the time of the disbanding 
of the State militia. 

Benjamin Bronsdon probably built the house on the south¬ 
east corner of Canton avenue and Poor-House Lane about a 
century ago. The land was conveyed to him by Isaac Daven¬ 
port, April 20, 1784; no mention of buildings. He was an 
extensive butcher. One of his buildings, in which is the large 
wheel used in his business, is still standing in the rear of Mr. 
Gilbert’s barn. The cellar on the opposite corner of Canton 
avenue and Poor-House Lane is where the house of Stephen 
Babcock stood. This was burned twenty-three years ago. 

POOR-HOUSE LOT. 

The Poor-House lot of forty acres was given to the town for 
this purpose by Governor Stoughton, as appears by the follow¬ 
ing extract from the records: — 

Feb. 28.1706/7 Milton S.S. Memorandum. God having graciously put 
it into the heart of the Honb le . Mr Stoughton late Governor to will and 
bequeath forty acres of his woodlot in Milton unto said Towne to be im¬ 
proved by the Select men of said Towne and their successors for the use and 
benefit of the poor of said Town forever, of which will M r John Danforth of 
Dorchester [in the right of his wife Elizabeth Executrix and heiress and lega¬ 
tee of the remainder of said Woodlot] is executor, therefore y e said Executor 
together with the Selectmen of said Milton and M r John Dane a skilful sur¬ 
veyor did on the 26 of November enter upon the said land and measure 
off forty acres for y e said Town out of said woodlot next to Mr Walter 
Morey’s land southeasterly; a brook being the bounds of the westerly end, 
and a multitude of trees are marked in the lines which cut the said forty 
acres from the remainder of said Woodlot, all which then marked trees are 
agreed to be bound trees; and a platt of said land was then given to the 
Select men and it was then mutually agreed and the said Danforth granted 
there should be a liberty for said Select men their successors and assigns to 




OLD HOUSES, CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. 


165 


drive carts and cattle through the remaining land of said Woodlot from 
the highway and parallel line in it by the side of said Morey’s land unto 
the nearest corner of said forty acres. 

The gate being shutt or barrs putt up after the men, carts and cattle, 
by such as shall use the said way so as no damage may accrue unto the 
owners of said lott, and when the said owners shall see cause to Fence out 
the said way the Select men and Towne shall make and maintain one half 
of the fence, and the way to be two rods wide. 

Agreed to by us — 

John Danforth 
Thomas Swift 
Thomas Yose 

George Sumner J> Select-men 
Manasseh Tucker | 

Jonathan Gulliver J 

PROVISION POR THE POOR. 

From the first existence of the town until 1803 the poor were 
provided for in the families of citizens, as arranged from year to 
year by the town. In some cases, when the paupers were too 
numerous to be cared for in the families, houses were hired by 
the town, and put in charge of a keeper, as in the following 
instance : — 

Dec 12 1754 — Voted that the town will hire Mr Ebenezer Tucker Jun. 
His house for a work house for the poor — that the Selectmen agree with 
said Tucker for his house. Mr Benjamin Crane was chosen Keeper of the 
work-house until next March meeting. 

This house is now standing on Hillside street, near the Can¬ 
ton line, known as the “ Johnson House.” The following vote 
shows the action of the town regarding the first Poor-house :— 

April 3 1803. Voted to enclose 4 acres of the poor house lot and erect 
a house thereon for a house for the poor. 

The house was built in 1805, and a barn about the same time. 
In 1852 a new barn was built, costing $446, and in 1854 a new 
house, costing $2,675.90. In 1882 extensive additions were made 
to the house, and a new stable was built at the expense of 
$5,715.63. 


PINE-TREE BROOK BRIDGE. 

In 1680 the road from the pine-trees to the meeting-house 
was laid out, and the bridge was built, as appears from our 
records : — 

At a public town meeting in Milton March 10th, 1680. If it be your 
minds to chouse Joseph Tucker Samuel Pitcher John ffeno Henry Glover 
and Ephriam Newton to be surveyors for the making of a new way and a 


166 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


cart bridge over tbe brooke in the Palill [parallel] line at the pine trees 
some time this summer who shall by their vote have power to warn every 
man and his team in the town and every male boy that is in the town above 
sixteen years of age who are not exempt by law to attend that work being 
legally warned; and if anie do not attend tha shall be liable to pay the fine 
according to the ordermade by the Select men concerning delinkquents upon 
highways ; it is also to be understood that the Sirvayers shall warn every 
man and hand liable to work once over before they warn one twise. This 
was voted in the affirmative the day above said. 

At an earlier date, before the bridge was built, this way was 
used for travel to some extent. There were large pine-trees 
near the brook. One of these was cut down and directed across 
the brook; it was then squared down, and on this the foot-travel 
crossed, while by its side horses and carts forded the stream. 
From this circumstance the stream at this point, from the 
earliest times, has borne the name of “ Pine-tree Brook.” A 
century ago or more there was a passage-way for carts and foot- 
travel from Brush Hill to the rear of the present ice-houses, 
where a log was placed for foot passengers. It doubtless met 
the road from Pine-tree bridge over “ Wigwam Hill.” 

BALSTEB’S BBOOK. 

Balster’s Brook, which empties into Pine-tree Brook, a short 
distance north of the bridge, took its name from Mr. Balster, a 
shipbuilder, of Boston, who, in early times, bought standing 
timber in this section of Dorchester, and used the brook, when 
swollen by rain and melted snow, for moving it. 

In 1670 the brook, now called Pine-tree Brook, at the point 
where Brook road crosses it, near Mr. Dudley’s house, was called 
Balster’s Brook, and, perhaps, the whole stream originally bore 
this name through its entire length, except at particular points, 
and that Balster floated his timber into the Neponset. Such a 
conclusion would explain the prominence given to Balster’s Brook 
in our earliest records. For twenty-five years after incorpora¬ 
tion Balster’s Brook was the dividing line of the town. 

At a town [meeting 11 March 1669 Increase Sumner and Ebenezer 
Clapp were chosen viewers of all the fence on the west side of Balsters 
brook and John Fenno & Henry Glover viewers of the same in all the 
rest of the town.” Again, “ At a town meeting Feb. 24 1672 William Denni¬ 
son and John Kinsley to be fence viewers on the east side of Balsters brook, 
and Ebenezer Clapp and George Lion to be viewers on the other side of 
the town. 

This brook, thus considered, would form quite an equal divis¬ 
ion of the inhabitants two centuries ago, as we recall their 
residences. 



OLD HOUSES, CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. 


167 


ANCIENT HOUSES. 

In the vicinity of Pine-tree Brook are several ancient 
houses. The house on Bobbins street, now owned by Mrs. 
Murphy, was built by Manasseh Tucker, or by his son, Ebenezer, 
and was devised in the will of Manasseh, approved May 3, 1743, 
to the widow of his late son, Ebenezer, and her children, Will¬ 
iam, and others. It was, therefore, built prior to the above 
date. It has been successively owned by John Ruggles, Samuel 
Wales, and John Myers. 

William Tucker, son of the first William, built the Atherton 
Tucker house, now owned by John Welch. Ebenezer, son of 
the first William, built the Kendall house. 1 For a time William 
kept store in a part of the Welch house ; he was called “ Uncle 
Billy.” Subsequently the brothers exchanged property, William 
taking the Kendall house, and Ebenezer the Welch house. At 
a later date William sold his Milton property to his brother 
Ebenezer, and removed to Sherburne. This same property, 
comprising the Kendall house and lands, was conveyed to Seth 
Sumner by Ebenezer Tucker. Elisha and Davis Sumner, sons 
and heirs of Seth, sold the same to Alpheus Cary; Ruby Cary, 
widow of Alpheus, to Hazen- Morse, of Boston; Morse, to 
Jonathan I. Kendall, Sept. 5, 1827, and the Kendall heirs to 
Henry A. Whitney, the present owner. 

On the west side of Robbins street, just south of the brook, 
Ebenezer Tucker long had a tannery. The vats have been filled 
up within fifty years ; and the stone used by Mr. Tucker for 
grinding bark now lies in front of Mr. Blackman’s blacksmith 
shop on Canton avenue. 

Quite an extensive business in cabinet-making was carried on 
by John Myers, in a large building, since burned, which stood 
in the rear of Mrs. Murphy’s house on Robbins street. 

Messrs. Lewis and Edwin Clapp, before and after the burning 

1 On a pane of glass, in one of the easterly hed-rooms of the Kendall house, are scratched 
by a diamond or crystal these lines: — 

Betsey Sumner, 

May 20, 1805. 

Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, 

Peace in thy breast; 

Would I were sleep and peace 
So sweet to rest. 

The signature is carefully covered with scratches, hut it is not difficult to make it out 
as Nancy Sumner. Betsey Sumner was the first child of Elisha and Nancy [Vose] Sum¬ 
ner, and' the eldest sister of General Edwin Vose Sumner. These lines seem to he the 
outburst of a mother’s heart, as she stands over her sleeping child on the morning of her 
tenth birthday. 







168 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


of their cabinet factory, on Harlancl street, occupied the shop 
that now stands back of Mr. Safford’s house, on the south side 
of Canton avenue. 


MINGO HILL. 

Not far west of the Kendall house, situated on a rise of land 
now owned by Mr. H. A. Whitney, on the south side of the 
avenue, was a small house long occupied by Mingo, an indian 
or negro, who lived to a great age. The hill is now called 
“ Mingo Hill.” 

Mingo lived alone, and, in his later years, was greatly annoyed 
by the boys knocking at his door, out of pure mischief. All his 
watching was in vain ; the boys were too cunning. One even¬ 
ing, just at dusk, Mingo, hearing the hateful knocking, sprang 
from the back-door around the house as fast as his old legs 
would carry him, and, seizing the miscreant, exclaimed in 
triumph : “ Now, Mr. Debil, ise got ye ! ” He was embracing 
the Hon. Edward H. Robbins, who had come to make his 
neighbor a call. 


HARLAND STREET. 

On the easterly side of Harland street, near the old dam, is 
a cellar now discernible, where once stood the house of Thomas 
Harling, who had a grist and saw mill at the dam. Harling 
was an Englishman, and married two Milton Yoses. Many of 
our citizens remember the house and the mill, and also the 
miller. It was many years before Harland street was built. 
The passage-way to the mill was through the lane, nearly oppo¬ 
site the Kendall house, and along the edge of the woodland. 
Harland street took its name from Mr. Harling, but not his 
name. Near the same location, at the new dam, was erected, 
many years after, by Mr. Eliphas Clapp, a large two-story 
building, with water-power, which was leased by Messrs. Lewis 
and Edwin Clapp, his sons, as a cabinet manufactory. This was 
burned about twenty years ago. 

“ Master Babcock,” grandfather of our citizen, Lemuel W. 
Babcock, lived in a house at the foot of the hill, on Canton 
avenue. He was a music-teacher of much distinction. 

Lemuel W. Babcock, and before him, his father, had a black¬ 
smith’s shop and a store on Canton avenue, a short distance 
north-east of his house, both of which have disappeared. An¬ 
other blacksmith’s shop sfood in the orchard, on the opposite 
side of Canton avenue. 

Nearly opposite the opening of Atherton street, on the south 




OLD HOUSES, CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. 


169 


side of Canton avenue, a house was built, twenty years ago, by 
Mr. Boardman; it was burned after a few years. 

BENT TAVERN. 

Where the Atherton Tavern now stands, on the corner of 
Canton avenue and Atherton street, stood a house built by 
Rufus, or Lemuel Bent, about 1740, where a tavern was kept. 

April 29. 1759. Lemuel Bent was authorized to beat his drums for 

enlistment of volunteers for His Majesty’s Service in a regiment of foot 
for a general invasion of Canada. 

Signed, Thomas Pownall. 

Milton Nov. 25. 1761. Received of Josiah How on board the sloop 

whereof John Atwood is master, twenty live pairs of men’s shoes and five 
pair of men’s pumps to deliver to Capt. Lemuel Bent at Halifax when 
arrived, the dangers of the sea excepted. 

This corner was a stirring place in those early days. Lemuel 
Bent, the tavern-keeper, was commissioned by Governor Pow- 
nall enlistment officer for the colony; and two years later he 
appears bn the field of conflict as captain of his company. 

BRADLEE TAVERN. 

John Bradlee lived in Milton before the Revolution, and had 
five sons and four daughters. All through the revolutionary 
war he was captain of a company of the militia of Milton, and 
for a time in Col. Benj. Gill’s regiment. 

The old Bradlee house, built by Capt. John, was the house 
standing upon the site now occupied by the mansion of Mr. E. 
C. Eustis. A few years ago it was enlarged and modern¬ 
ized, and finally was removed to make place for the present 
structure. 

Stephen, son of John, married Sarah Davenport, June, 1790. 
At his decease, in 1808, she moved to the old Bent Tavern, and 
there kept a public house called the “ Bradlee Tavern.” 

Stephen was grandfather of John D. Bradlee, who was long 
coroner and deputy sheriff of the County of Norfolk, and held 
various town offices. John D. was the father of the present 
Selectman and Deputy Sheriff, J. Walter Bradlee. 

ATHERTON TAVERN. 

Major Jedediah Atherton, of Stoughton, married Mrs. Brad¬ 
lee, removed to Milton, and erected the present building in 


170 


HISTORY OF MIL TOY. 


1810, on the site of the old tavern, which took the name of 
Atherton Tavern. He died Jan. 17, 1824, leaving his widow 
the proprietor of the tavern, which position she continued to 
occupy till near the time of her death, in 1840. This house, 
built after the fashion of the square taverns of olden times, 
was a wayside home for the extensive travel over the “old 
Taunton road,” which, in the days of stage-coaches and baggage- 
teams, required accommodations not needful in our time. It has 
been a popular resort for balls and parties and merry-making in 
days gone by. 


“ The panting horses halted, 

And travellers loved to tell 
The quiet of the wayside inn, 

The orchard and the well.” 

The old Atherton Tavern was purchased in 1885 by Mr. Wm. 
H. Talbot, of Boston, who, without destroying its identity, by 
various additions and embellishments, has converted the plain 
hostelry of other days into the present attractive summer 
residence. 

Between the Atherton Tavern and the estate of John D. 
Bradlee, on the same side of Canton avenue, was the house of 
Capt. Thomas Yose. His estate was bounded in the rear by 
the parallel line which runs through the centre of Canton 
avenue, from the churches to this point, and can be traced 
westerly to the Canton line by sections of walls that have not 
been disturbed for two hundred years. The barn of Mr. Vose 
stood on the south-easterly side of the road, near which was a 
passage-way to his wood-lot and lands in the rear. Some of 
these lands continue in the family to this day, and a right of 
way to them over this passage-way still exists. 

Captain Yose married Patience, daughter of Joseph Billings, 
who was born in the Billings Tavern. He was captain of a 
troop of horse. In the year 1757 he marched to the relief of 
Fort William Henry, at the foot of Lake George. He was then 
in the prime of life, and a man of note in the town. Patience, 
the wife of Captain Yose, was a woman of uncommon energy of 
character. At the decease of her husband she continued to 
carry on the farm with great success, superintending the work 
and riding on horseback in every direction over the extensive 
fields, to direct the laborers. In this house were born Daniel 
Yose, at whose residence, Milton Lower Mills, the famous 
“Suffolk Resolves” were passed in 1774; and Hannah Yose, 
who for forty years kept a record of the Sabbath services at the 
Milton church, including all preachers, texts, additions, bap- 




OLD HOUSES, CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. 


171 


tisms, and other items of great value and interest in our day. 
This journal, now in the possession of Edmund J. Baker, is a 
monument which will perpetuate her memory. 

Just south of the estate of the late John D. Bradlee, and on 
the same side of Canton avenue, stood the old Glover house; 
the spot is clearly indicated by the outline of the cellar. Here 
lived in the last century Moses Glover and others of the family. 
Samuel Yose occupied the house at a later period; it disappeared 
seventy years ago. 

Mrs. David Sumner (“Aunt Debby” as she was called) 
lived in a house on the south side of Canton avenue, be¬ 
tween the street and the residence of Daniel Denny, near 
where the well is now seen. In front of her house was a 
famous herb garden, which she cultivated with great success. 
Her herbs and cream she took to market in her chaise, and they 
always found a ready sale. To a friend who said to her, “ You 
must find it very fatiguing to get in and out of your chaise so 
often,” she replied, “I never get out of my chaise. When I get 
into the streets I make my voice heard, and the people come 
and buy to stop my noise.” The house was removed to the 
rear, and taken down in 1884. 

BILLINGS TAVERN* 

Farther south, on Canton avenue, at the top of the hill, and 
directly in front of the Wainwright mansion, stood the Billings 
tavern, in the early part of this century, called the “ Blue Hill 
Tavern,” an ancient hostelry, and a famed resort for fancy din¬ 
ners and high living. Mr. Bobbins is confident that all the Mil- 
ton Billings’s, after Boger, were born in this house. I find the 
following reference in Bev. Peter Thacher’s journal: “May 6, 
1681, Goodman Man and I went to Mr Billings to see a 
horse.” “ Nov 14 1683 ; Goodman Billings died.” The conclu¬ 
sion is, that this house was the residence of Boger in the latter 
years of his life, and that it was built prior to 1681. It was 
taken down in 1885, and the timber used in erecting a barn on 
Thacher’s plain. For several seasons Daniel Webster was a 
guest at this house with his compeers. Their excursions 
through the woods for hunting, and to Houghton’s Pond for 
fishing, are well remembered. 

In this house was born Charles Howland Hammatt Billings, 
the distinguished architect. He was son of Ebenezer Billings. 
Joseph Billings, son of the Joseph who first kept the tavern, was 
a leather-dresser. In the field opposite his house, on the south 
side of the street, was his red factory. Here, General Whit¬ 
ney, who, in after years, followed the same business at the 



172 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Lower Mills, served his time as apprentice, and worked as 
journeyman. For many years the field about the factory was a 
peach orchard, of large, healthy, and vigorous trees, annually 
loaded with luscious fruit. 

Hales’ “ Survey of Boston and its Vicinity,” issued in 1821, 
thus speaks of this tavern: — 

At the foot of the Blue Hills are situated the country seats of R. D. Tucker 
and Isaac Davenport, Esqs., as also that elegant tavern, hoarding-house, 
and fruit gardens, kept by Ebenezer Billings, which is one of the most 
delightful summer retreats in this neighborhood. 

On the corner between Green street and Canton avenue 
stood the “ Davenport store,” famed of old as a halting-place 
for all the teams. “Baiting for Horses” was in plain sight. 
The thirsty were also refreshed; and, as all were thirsty in those 
days, it so happened that the weary traveller seldom passed this 
store without a friendly call. 

BRUSH HILL. 

The beautiful hill in the north-westerly section of Milton 
from the very earliest times has borne the name of Brush Hill. 
The tradition is, that shortly before the settlement of the coun¬ 
try a great forest fire swept over the hill, consuming the trees 
with everything in its pathway, and that over the burnt district 
sprang up a thick growth of bushes; from this circumstance it 
took the name of Brush Hill, which it has never lost. This hill 
was early occupied. The open fields, strong soil, and wide 
views drew many of the first settlers to this section. 

On its southerly slope, commanding a charming view of the 
Blue Hill range and of the interlying valleys, stands the man¬ 
sion of Henry A. Whitney, as seen in the picture. This artistic 
modern structure presents a striking contrast among the build¬ 
ings of olden times. The estate of Mr. Whitney extends from 
Blue Hill avenue, southerly, over Canton avenue into the mead¬ 
ows and forest beyond, embracing, in part, the lands taken up 
by the Tuckers and Sumners of colonial days. 

The old house near the paper-mill at Mattapan was probably 
built by James Boise for his own residence, soon after he pur¬ 
chased the Mill estate. June 29, 1765, he conveyed to Richard 
Clark the “ northerly half of the dwelling-house in which he lived, 
and six acres of pasture land, bounded northerly on the ditch.” 

The George Hollingsworth house at Mattapan, just south of 
the canal, on the west side of Blue Hill avenue, is the Jackson 
house, built by Jonathan Jackson about 1712. It has been 










OLD HOUSES, CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. 


173 


remodelled and enlarged, but most of the original building re¬ 
mains. Here lived Hugh McLean during the latter years of his 
life, and John McLean through his early life, until he entered 
on active business in Boston, and later for the summer months. 
Mark Hollingsworth bought the place of the Massachusetts Gen¬ 
eral Hospital, residuary legatee under the will of John McLean, 
Jan. 28, 1824 ; consideration, $3,500. (See Norfolk Deeds, Lib. 
72, Fol. 14.) 



Soon after incorporation John Trott settled down on the land 
now owned by Amor L. Hollingsworth; his house stood near 
Mr. Hollingsworth’s, where the well is now seen. A tract of 
land east of the house was long known as the “ Trott Pasture.” 

The house of Samuel Trescott stood on the east side of Brush 
Hill road, directly opposite the driveway to the Robbins house; 
his well, near by, is still in use. 

James Smith Jr Sugar refiner of Boston bought August 1734, of Margaret 
Trescott, Samuel Topliff, and Hannah his wife 60 acres of land lying on 
Brush Hill bounded north by the river and on both sides by the road. 
— Suffolk Deeds, Lib. 49, Fol. 34. 








174 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Mr. Smith purchased other tracts of land in the same 
vicinity, making in all one hundred and seventy-one acres. 
About this time he built the Robbins house. He was a large 
capitalist, or became such, and is said to have had more mortgages 
recorded in Suffolk Registry than any other man of his day. 

We find the following notice of his death : — 

Last Thursday night, died at his seat at Brush Hill, Milton, Mr. Janies 
Smith, of this town, sugar-boiler, in the 81st year of his age. His funeral 
will be attended from the house of James Murray, Esq., in Queen street, this 
afternoon, precisely at five o’clock. — Boston Evening Post, Aug. 7,1769. 

Mr. Smith’s second wife was Mrs. Campbell, formerly Eliza¬ 
beth Murray, sister of James Murray. At the decease of her 
husband, Mrs. Smith, who afterwards became Mrs. Inman, con¬ 
veyed, Sept. 28, 1769, to Honorable Thomas Hutchinson, of 
Milton, and Ezeldel Goldthwait, of Boston, the estate on Brush 
Hill and elsewhere, comprising one hundred and seventy-one 
acres, in trust, the income and improvement of the same to go 
to her brother, James Murray. Mr. Murray improved the place, 
and was a resident of Milton in 1674, but, sympathizing strongly 
with the Government in the struggle of the times, he withdrew 
to Boston, where he passed about a year, and in 1776 went to 
England. His interest in the Brush Hill estate was transferred 
to his daughters. They, too, were strong Royalists, and only by 
continuing to live in the house through the war were they able 
to retain their Milton property. 

Robert Tucker moved from Weymouth to Milton about 1662. 
In Nov., 1668, he purchased three tracts of land on Brush Hill, 
of Widow Farnsworth, Elder Withington, and Mrs. Fenno, con¬ 
taining in all about one hundred and seventeen acres. In his 
will, dated 7th March, 1681, he speaks of the “ new house.” This 
house is now standing on the west side of Brush Hill road, at 
the head of Robbins street, owned by Miss Susan W. Clark, a 
descendant of Robert Tucker, whose ancestor, George Clark, 
married Elizabeth, daughter of Jaazaniah Tucker, the son of 
Manasseh; his son, Jaazaniah Tucker Clark, was father of the 
Milton Clarks. It is probably the oldest house in Milton, and 
evidently belongs to the old colonial times. The annular in¬ 
crements in a section of white oak timber removed from one of 
the beams in repairing this house show a growth of oue hundred 
and eleven years. This timber, which still remains in the build¬ 
ing, hard and sound as when first put in place, has an age of at 
least three hundred years. 

Miss Clark, in her travels abroad, stopping in the old Prussian 
town of Goslar, saw many quaint houses, and secured the photo- 




OLD HOUSES, CELLARS , AND LANDMARKS. 


175 


graph of one after which she decided to fashion the roof and 
exterior of her Brush Hill house. The knocker on the front 
door of the remodeled house was brought from Goslar. 



On the east side of Brush Hill road, but a short distance 
from the Tucker house, is the Sumner house, built but a few 
years later, by Roger Sumner, and still owned and occupied 
by the Sumner family. The inventory of his Milton estate 
was taken by Thomas Yose, Ralph Houghton, and Samuel 














176 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Trescott, 14th Dec., 1700, “Mary Sumner, the widow of Roger, 
to have as her thirds the old end of the dwelling-house in Mil- 
ton, valued at <£18 8s.” Waitstill [Sumner] Tucker, eldest 
daughter, “to have one-third part of the chamber, and one-third 
part of the garret in the new end of the dwelling-house, and 
other estate.” 

Between the Tucker house and the house of Joshua W. Yose, 
on the same side of Brush Hill road, were the Foord and Jones 
houses. The Jones house, which was first the Blake house, was 
struck by lightning in 1789 and the westerly part torn to 
pieces; both of these have disappeared. Nathan Foord, of 
Marshfield, married Waitstill Tucker, daughter of Jaazaniah, son 
of Manasseh Tucker, and took up his residence on the Tucker 
estate, Brush Hill, Milton. Here sprang up a family of nine 
children. All were born in Milton, and most of them marrying 
residents of the town, became closely associated with its inter¬ 
ests. James, the second son, married Hannah Blake, of Milton. 
He was made Register of Deeds for Norfolk County, April, 
1818, and was successively followed in this office by his son 
Enos Foord, and by James, the son of Enos, now resident in 
California. 

The old Yose house was in the field, down the hill, perhaps 
twenty rods east of the Jesse Yose house. 

The house of Deacon Edward Capen stands on the highest 
land of Brush Hill occupied by a Milton residence, and lower 
down, on the same side of the street, is the house of Deacon 
Amariah Tucker and his son, Deacon Nathan Tucker, all faith¬ 
ful, earnest men. In the winter of 1788-9 the house of Dea¬ 
con Amariah Tucker was consumed by fire. There was a 
party that night at Dr. Turner’s, who lived on Canton avenue, 
where Mrs. Eldridge now resides, in full sight of Deacon 
Amariah’s house. When the party broke up, at midnight, Dea¬ 
con Amariah’s house was seen to be on fire. A horseman gal¬ 
loped with all speed over the road, nearly a mile, and aroused the 
family in season to rescue them from the flames, but not to save 
their effects. The tall, massive Willard’s clock, now ticking in 
the drawing-room of Miss M. E. Tucker’s house, was almost the 
only valuable article saved; it cost Deacon Amariah sixty silver 
dollars. This was passed out of the window, and Deacon 
Amariah’s wife, a slight woman, took it in her arms and bore it 
through the deep snow across the road to a place of safety. 
Ordinarily it would test the strength of two men. The present 
house was built during the next year. 

The old original George Sumner house, built about 1662, 
stood in the field south-east of the Ferry houses. It was burned 



OLD HOUSES , CELLARS , AND LANDMARKS. 


177 


down April 10, 1748, and another house was built. Subse¬ 
quently, Abijah Sumner, son of Benjamin and grandson of 
George, lived in this house. His only daughter, Sarah, married 
Joshua Kingsbury. Their daughter, Rhoda, married Simon 
Ferry. Mr. Ferry bought out the other heirs, and came into 
possession of the estate. He continued to reside in the Sumner 
house until about 1836, when he built the Ferry house, now 
standing on the south side of Brush Hill road, near the great 
elm. In 1848 the old Sumner house was taken down, and an¬ 
other was built for George S. Ferry; afterwards this was 
moved to the position on Brush Hill road, where it now stands, 
still owned and occupied by G. S. Ferry, son of Simon. In this 
house is a charred timber from the old house burned in 1748. 

April 10, 1748. Mr. Benjamin Sumner’s house in Milton caught on 
fire, and was consumed with most of the wearing apparel of the family. 
— Boston News Letter. 

The old Edward Blake homestead, last owned by Ziba Blake, 
was on the north side of Brush Hill road, east of the house of 
Deacon Nathan Tucker, and near the house of Mr. White. His 
estate extended back to the river, as did most of the estates 
on the north side of the road. 

A little south-east of the Nathan Tucker house, on the opposite 
side of the road, was the Noah Damon house. It was standing 
in 1781. 

The house of George Tucker, which stood north of the road, 
in the rear of the Dana Tucker house, was sold by his son, 
E. G. Tucker, and removed to the Capen estate, on some of the 
highest land of the hill, where it now stands, near the Capen 
driveway. 

The small-pox hospital was located on the George Tucker 
farm, in the rear of the Dana Tucker house. 

George Tucker of Milton yesterday fell from the tongue of his wagon 
while passing through Roxbury and was immediately killed. — Boston 
Evening Post, June 19, 1805. 

There lies before me, as I write, a touching obituary notice, 
with lines on his death, by Edward H. Bobbins. 

The old Lion house, belonging to descendants of Preserved 
Lion, one of Milton’s earliest citizens, stood on the north side of 
Brush Hill road, east of the Timothy Tucker house, and very 
near the house of Edward Finn , no trace of it remains. 

The Reuben Lion house is the old Brush Hill school-house 
enlarged. It originally stood very near the Brush Hill road, on 




178 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


land now owned by William M. Ferry, between his barn and the 
road. The exact location is indicated by the English elms growing 
there, first planted by Gov. Robbins when be owned the land. 

South of the Elijah Tucker house, and on the opposite side of 
Brush Hill road, on land now owned by Miss Forbes, stood the 
first Yose house, where the progenitors of the Brush Hill Yoses 
lived. The Yose land originally extended nearly to Paul’s 
bridge. 

Deacon Oliver Houghton, one of Milton’s best citizens, lived 
in the old house on Brush Hill road, at the head of Atherton 
street. The house is now moved to the rear, and the lot is 
occupied by “The Woodpecker,” a summer boarding-house 
recently moved to this locality. 

John Shepard Crehore had a chair manufactory on the Ly¬ 
man Davenport place. Here, and at Adam Davenport’s chair 
factory on Milton Hill, the old-fashioned, hard-wood, high- 
backed chairs were made. These are still found in Milton 
families, and are prized for their comfort and durability. 

Early in this century John Crehore owned a large farm near 
Paul’s bridge [early known as “Hubbard’s Bridge”], a part of 
which now belongs to Mr. J. Mann. It was then an extensive 
dairy farm. “In 1812 John Crehore made 2181 lbs. of cheese, 
and sold 200 bbls. of apples.” He was the first in Milton to 
raise strawberries for market. 

Here also originated the “Diana Grape,” which took the 
name of Diana Crehore, wife of John, who raised the grape from 
the seed of the Catawba. It was named and introduced by the 
Massachusetts Horticultural Society more than fifty years ago, 
and still holds its place among our best native grapes. The 
original vine was living fifteen years ago. 

On one corner of Blue Hill avenue and Robbins street stood 
the toll-house of the old Brush Hill turnpike, where toll was 
taken as late as 1844. This was moved farther up and con¬ 
verted into the house of Mr. Gilbert Sumner. The toll-house 
was kept by Mr. McKendry, who had a hatter’s shop on the 
opposite corner. Mr. Wilder Broad, the carpenter, bought the 
shop and land and built his house there. When Mr. H. A. 
Whitney came into possession of the land on that corner, this 
house was bought by Herbert B. Tucker, and moved to Matta- 
pan, where it now stands, on Brush Hill road, owned by Patrick 
Morton. 


scott’s woods. 

The origin of this name, attached to a portion of the territory 
annexed to Milton on the south-west, in 1712, is still in doubt. 




OLD HOUSES, CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. 


179 


Mr. Robbins’ hypothesis, that it took its name from the Scotch¬ 
men employed by the Braintree Iron Company, is not supported 
by facts. In his address appears the following statement: — 

The town of Boston was greatly interested in the undertaking, and the 
location of the works at Braintree was encouraged by a grant of three 
thousand acres of land, still belonging to Boston, at that place. This tract 
is the same land which was purchased in 1711 by Mannaseh Tucker, Samuel 
Miller, and John Wadsworth, of Milton, and divided by the Court be¬ 
tween Braintree and Milton at that time. The fifteen hundred acres at¬ 
tached to our jurisdiction forms the present Scotch Woods Settlement. 

The land purchased by the above citizens of Milton in 1711 
was the tract known as the “ Blue Hill Land,” belonging to 
Boston. This section was remote from, and had no connection 
with, the grant to the Iron Company. It is wholly distinct and 
separate territory. , I cannot understand how our honored citi¬ 
zen, usually so correct, was led into this error; but, with his 
statement, such an origin of the name of this section of our 
town seemed natural. 

It is highly probable that Scott’s Woods took its name from a 
family by the name of Scott residing on the territory before its 
annexation with Milton, and continuing in Milton through the 
whole of the last century. 

Benjamin Scott, of Braintree, whose will was proved April 9, 
1684, gives his brother Peter all his estate, until Peter’s son, 
Benjamin, reaches the age of twenty-one years, then the son 
Benjamin takes half; if this son dies before the father, then the 
next son takes it. If Benjamin should live to enjoy the house 
and land after his father’s death, he shall pay to his brother, 
Peter Scott, <£10, and to John £5. John, the son of Benjamin, 
was baptized in Milton, November 22, 1702. Ebenezer Scott 
joined the church in Milton, 1748; he married Sarah Williams, 
of Dorchester, April 12, 1741. Sarah, wife of Ebenezer, died 
1791. Mary, the daughter of Ebenezer, baptized November 22, 
1747, and Catherine, daughter of Ebenezer, baptized November 
19, 1749. Jan. 26, 1792, Samuel Scott married Susanna 
Tucker. 

Mrs. Susanna Tucker, wife of Capt. Nathaniel Tucker, 
of Scott’s Woods, fifty years ago made the following statement 
to Edmund J. Baker: That an old man named Scott lived 
near the point where the old Scott’s Woods road crosses the 
Randolph avenue, and that some part of that road was through 
his lands. Mrs. Tucker was born in 1777 ; she obtained her 
information from Samuel Tucker, born in 1731. With her in¬ 
telligence and means of knowing the facts, and with her im- 


180 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


pression that the neighborhood took its name from this family, 
the probability almost reaches certainty. 

Manasseh Tucker, one of the four grantees of the “ Blue Hill 
Land,” continued to reside on his Brush Hill estate. His son 
Samuel, who had married Rebecca Leeds, of Dorchester, March 
2, 1711, moved upon the new purchase in the wilderness, where 
a house was built, referred to in the will of his father. It prob¬ 
ably stood on Hillside street, where the house of Charles K. 
Hunt now is, and may have been in part the same house. In 
this house the third Samuel Tucker, great-grandson of Manasseh, 
lived through most of his life, and finally removed to the tavern 
on Randolph avenue built by him, where he died, July 19,1841, 
aged ninety-one years, then the oldest man in Milton. 

The house nearest the Canton line, on Hillside street, known 
as the “ Johnson House,” was the old Tucker, afterwards Far¬ 
rington house, conveyed by the Tuckers, June 5, 1760, to Seth 
Crane, and by him conveyed to Jonathan Farrington, June 14, 
1785. Here were born Jonathan, Abel, John, and Nathaniel 
Farrington. This house or some other was standing here in 
1754, and was conveyed by William Tucker, son of Ebenezer, 
to Ebenezer Tucker, Jun. 

Dec. 12, 1754. Voted that the town will hire Mr. Ebenezer Tucker, 
Jun. His house for a work house for the poor. Mr. Benjamin Crane was 
chosen keeper of the work-house until next March meeting. 

The old Benjamin Crane house was that known as the Elijah 
Hunt house, who married Rachael Crane. 

Ralph Houghton removed from Lancaster to Milton in 1690, 
and soon after built the Houghton house. In 1722 the house 
and one hundred and fifty acres of land were conveyed to 
Ebenezer Houghton by his father, Joseph. It continued in the 
Houghton family until 1885. It is now about two hundred 
years old. 

November 27, 1800, two sons of Jason Houghton, always 
called “ Master Houghton,”— Charles Pierce, aged eleven, and 
Warren, aged eight years,—were sent upon the ice by their 
father to bring within shot duck that had settled in the open 
water, when they broke through, and were drowned before 
his eyes. 

Joseph Hunt, of Randolph, living near the boundary of Milton, 
whose wife, Beula, died June 13, 1873, at the great age of 104 
years, bought of John Houghton, son of Nathaniel, a tract of 
land on Hillside street, on which stood an old house called the 
“ Barracks,” probably a garrison house in the Indian wars. His 
son Thomas took down the old building and erected the present 















OLD HOUSES, CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. 


181 


house, long known as the Thomas Hunt house, and now owned 
by Mrs. E. M. Cary. 

North of this house, on the same side of the street, just where 
the hill begins to rise, stood an old house in former years, no 
trace of which now remains. It was occupied for a time by a 
blind woman, Nanny Smith. When Deacon Houghton’s children 
were drowned in the pond she stood at her door agonized by 
their screams. 

“ Aunt Sally Sampson,” sister of Thomas Hunt, lived in an 
old house standing where the Simmons house now is. 

Artemas Kennedy, grandson of Andrew Kennedy, Jr., moved 
from Westport to Milton, to the estate of his ancestors, in Scott’s 
Woods, where he established a bakery about 1820. He built 
the house now owned by his son, J. L. Kennedy. His bakery 
was east of his dwelling-house, where a large business was done 
for several years, and many workmen employed. At his decease 
the business was continued by his sons and Jason Thayer, till 
1856. Andrew Kennedy, Jr., son of Capt. Andrew Kennedy, of 
the Navy, was the adopted son of John Pitcher. He kept 
tavern in Milton during the Revolutionary war. He and four of 
his sons were at the battle of Lexington. He married Amy Went¬ 
worth, 1753. The Kennedy place was owned in the first years of 
the town by John Pitcher; a cellar, on the south side of the 
street in the fields, indicates the position of his slaves’ quarters. 

A short distance up Forest street is a cellar where the Tynes 
house stood which was recently burned. 

Jeremiah Tucker, son of Jeremiah, called “Master Jerry,” 
lived in the house east of the Kennedy house, which he built. 

Alpheus M. Withington bought the Samuel Tucker estate, 
and sold to Thomas Hunt, who sold the same to Charles K. 
Hunt and Samuel Cook. The bakery of Mr. Tucker, occu¬ 
pied by his son Joshua, was in a buiiding on the north side 
of Hillside street, a little east of his residence; it has been 
changed into a dwelling-house, now owned by C. K. Hunt. 

The bakery of Nathaniel Tucker stood on the same side of 
the street, still further east; it was changed to a dwelling-house 
and removed to the avenue of Col. Russell, in the rear of his 
Scott’s Woods house. 

white’s and wild’s taveen. 

The Copeland house, which stood on or near the site of the 
residence of C. L. Copeland, and was removed to Randolph 
avenue, near Pleasant street, was in early times owned by Mr. 
White, who kept tavern there. It was afterwards known as 


182 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Wild’s tavern. In the year 1787 a man belonging in Mid- 
dleboro’ started on horseback from Boston to that place, and 
got as far as Wild’s tavern, where he died of yellow-fever. 

Capt. Nathaniel Tucker’s house, now owned by Col. Bussell, 
was the Stephen Miller house spoken of in the history of the 
Miller family. 

Capt. Tucker and Capt. Withington built the Lewis Tucker 
house, and had a bakery in the shop near by ; this was changed 
by Lewis Tucker into a cabinet-maker’s shop. William B. 
Washburn, Governor of Massachusetts, and member of Con¬ 
gress, the successor of Charles Sumner, when a boy, lived with 
Capt. Nathaniel Tucker for two years, as assistant on the farm, 
and attended the Scott’s Woods school. He went from Mr. 
Tucker’s to Deacon Adams’, and after that began his prepara¬ 
tion for college. 

Capt. Isaac Tucker, the son of Jeremiah, lived in the house 
built by himself, now owned and occupied by Aaron D. Vose. 
This house is very old, and has been rebuilt and repaired. Capt. 
Isaac was a man of sound judgment and firm principle ; he 
was greatly respected by all his contemporaries. He was ap¬ 
pointed captain of a company of the 6th Regiment, 1st Division, 
Militia, County of Suffolk, May 25, 1789. His commission, 
signed by Governor Hancock, is in the possession of his de¬ 
scendants. 

Deacon Isaac Tucker, son of Capt. Isaac, had a house just 
west of the Aaron D. Vose house, built for him by his father, 
which was burned after his death; his widow built again on the 
same site ; her house was also burned, and a cabinet-maker’s shop 
near by. Deacon Isaac possessed a strong personal character. 
He was beloved and esteemed in the church and town. He 
died at the commencement of a career of great usefulness. 

Deacon David Tucker, son of Jeremiah, and father of Deacon 
Jesse Tucker, lived in a very old house standing near the house 
of David W. Tucker. Deacon Jesse took this house down and 
built the present house in 1837. These two deacons, father and 
son, are well remembered, and Deacon Jesse distinctly so, by the 
people of Milton. They were high-minded, noble men, whose 
influence will never die. 

A knoll, covered with pine-trees in the rear, and somewhat to 
the east of this house, is, by tradition, an old Indian burial- 
place. Indian relics have been found in the near vicinity, —- 
arrow-heads and a tomahawk. 

Far up on Chickataubut hill, south-east of the house of D. W. 
Tucker, are seen the well-defined foundations of a building, five 
hundred feet above sea level and very difficult of access. What 



OLD HOUSES, CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. 


183 


misanthrope could have sought a residence there ? or was it a 
signal-station during the war? 

cl auk’s tavern. 

Clark’s tavern, on Randolph avenue, was built by Samuel 
Tucker in 1809, for his son Joshua, for the purpose of accommo¬ 
dating the travel on the new turnpike. It was purchased by 
Minot Thayer, who kept it as a hotel. It was successively 
rented to Cephas Belcher, Mr. Linfield, Vinton Clark, and Mr. 
Huckings, each of whom kept it several years. Wm. H. Clark 
purchased it in 1877, after having carried it on twenty-four 
years. The house opposite was built by the father of Robert 
Vose, Esq. It was purchased by Mr. Swift, of Bridgewater, 
enlarged to its present dimensions, and used as a hotel for sev¬ 
eral years. Mr. Swift was a blacksmith, and had a shop near 
his barn. It now belongs to the Wm. H. Clark estate. 

Mr. Isaac Copeland, grandfather of C. L. Copeland, lived on 
the old Scott’s Woods road, a short distance from D. W. Tucker, 
in a house which has disappeared. It was early known as the 
Miller house. His wife, Rebecca [Pierce] Copeland, before her 
marriage lived in the family of Gov. Belcher, while he was a 
resident of Milton. 

The house of Capt. Samuel Wadsworth, who fell at Sudbury, 
1676, was opposite the residence of George K. Gannett; this 
was burned in 1669. The family took temporary refuge in the 
barn, where Rev. Dr. Benjamin Wadsworth, minister of Bos¬ 
ton, and President of Harvard College, was born. Another 
house was built, and remained there till 1803. The walls of 
this house, and of many old houses in Milton, were packed with 
seaweed. 

The gale of 1815 was from the south-east. It prostrated 
chimneys, unroofed houses, and laid flat acres of woodland. 
The house of George K. Gannett, then owned by John Gib¬ 
bons, was a story and a half high; the gale blew off the roof, 
and in repairing the damage, it was raised to two stories. 

The old Bent house was probably built by Josiah Bent. 
Here the bakery was started in 1801, in a single small oven. 
It is now used as a storehouse for the bakery. 

The Reed house, opposite the bakery, was built by John Gib¬ 
bons. It was owned for a time by Josiah Bent. Noah Reed, 
by whose descendants it is now owned and occupied, bought it 
of Joel Pratt in 1801. 

The old Wadsworth house, standing on the grounds of Capt. 
E. D. Wadsworth, was built by Benjamin Wadsworth, the great- 



184 


HISTORY OF MILT OH. 


great-grandfather of Capt. Wadsworth, in 1735. It appears at 
the heading of this chapter. 

The large square house, formerly of Josiah Wadsworth, on 
the east side of Highland street, was built by John Wadsworth, 
who lived there at the time of the Revolution. About 1800 it 
was enlarged, and a second story was added by Deacon Will¬ 
iam Wadsworth, father of Josiah, for the purpose of furnish¬ 
ing accommodations for the pupils of Milton Academy. 


NEW STATE. 

New State took its name in this wise. Daniel Yose was en¬ 
gaged in an extensive grocery and shipping business at the vil¬ 
lage, having a large wholesale grocery store, and employing 
many men. 

The idle men from the section of the town in the region of 
Pleasant street were accustomed to congregate at his store 
for the extra work which Mr. Yose furnished; thus, many 
times, spending day after day in loafing and idleness. Allen 
Crocker, the chief clerk of Mr. Yose, exasperated by the lazy 
habits of the people, on one occasion, when the gang were loaf¬ 
ing around the store, told them that they were a worthless set, 
and a nuisance ; that God Almighty would rain fire and brim¬ 
stone on them as he did on Sodom and Gomorrah, were it not 
for Stephen Horton; he saved the place. They were not fit to 
live in Massachusetts; he would rid the State of such a 
crew, and set them off into a new State by themselves, — that 
Moses Belcher was to be Governor, John Marshall, Lieut.-Gov- 
ernor, and Asa Horton, Secretary of State. 

The tirade was effective. From that day the place was called 
“ New State,” and Moses Belcher was known only as “ Governor 
Belcher ” till his death. 

On the east side of the old way, as it used to go, from the 
foot of Reed street across Randolph avenue, and up over the 
hill, is a cellar in good preservation, where lived, perhaps, a 
Crane, and, perhaps, a Scott; no one living knows. The house 
was not standing in 1795. Remains of the asparagus bed are 
still visible. On the south side of Pleasant street, near the 
Brophy house, stood the old house of Rufus Gulliver. 

On the north side of Pleasant street, on land of D. G. Corliss, 
a short distance east of his house, was the residence of Joseph 
Calef; he married Mehitable Miller in 1758. He built the 
Jason Reed house, and sold it to Ezra Coats. 

The house of Alexander Yose stood on the south side of 



OLD HOUSES, CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. 


185 


Pleasant street, nearly opposite the house of Aaron W. Vose. 
Indications of the cellar are now visible. 

Asa Horton was a venerable-looking man, of long, flowing 
white heard. He lived a hermit’s life on Gun Hill street, near 
the cemetery entrance, where the well is now seen. The pond 
near his house, on the west side of Gun Hill street, on which the 
boys now skate, is called to this day “ Asa’s Pond.” 

The old Murray house was removed from the site where the 
Bailey mansion stood to the place it now occupies, nearly op¬ 
posite the residence of Mr. John Higgins. 

The old house of John Higgins was the residence of Moses 
Belcher, who obtained the sobriquet of Governor, in the es¬ 
tablishment of “ New State,” already described, and was always 
after known as “ Governor Belcher.” 

Directly east of this is the cellar marking the residence of 
John Marshall, and the land in front and in the rear comprises 
the “ Marshall farm.” 

On the opposite side of Pleasant street a passage-way opens, 
on which lived some of our earliest citizens. A short distance 
up this way, where the barn of John Craig now stands, was the 
house of Stephen Horton, which was standing within the mem¬ 
ory of some of our oldest citizens. This house was the station 
at which were conducted the famous experiments in vaccina¬ 
tion, October, 1809, described in another chapter. An eighth of 
a mile south-west of Stephen Horton’s house, on a hill, was the 
house of Enoch Horton; a portion of the cellar wall now stands, 
plumb and strong to the very top. About the same distance south 
of Stephen Horton’s house are indications of a cellar, with the 
garden in front, supposed to mark the abode of one of the Crane 
family. This hill was early called “ Hull’s Hill.” Nearer the 
street was the house of Stephen Horton, son of Enoch, destroyed 
by fire a few years since. A new house now stands over the 
same cellar. Within fifteen years seven houses have been built 
along this ancient pathway, and on the beautiful summits in the 
immediate vicinity. 

On the westerly side of Pleasant street, where it makes 
a sharp angle to the north, was the old Talbot house. This 
was removed farther north, and now forms the rear of the Pierce 
house. Opposite the site of the Talbot house, on the east side 
of Pleasant street, stood the house owned and occupied by 
Joseph Hunt; a little farther east, on the lane to the quarries, 
was the Samuel Hunt house. These have disappeared; but still 
farther east, crowning a hill among the waving trees, is the 
mansion of Edward Cunningham. 

Up the passage-way to the house of Mr. Samuel Brown, and 



186 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


in the rear of his barn, stood a house erected by the Babcocks, 
who, a hundred and fifty years ago or more, carried on the tan¬ 
nery business in that locality; the position of the vats in the 
valley may be seen to this day. The last occupant of this house 
was Joshua Ward, a gardener and grafter, known to many citi¬ 
zens ; it was destroyed by fire twenty years ago. The tan- 
house, afterwards owned by E. Winter Calef, was burned in 
1773. 


GUN HILL STREET. 

This street is supposed to have taken its name from the fol¬ 
lowing incident. In the Indian wars, from lack of horses, heavy 
guns were sometimes drawn from place to place by detachments 
of troops. On one occasion, when passing over this hill, which 
was then traversed by a drift-way, a gun became so imbedded 
in the mud that it was necessary to abandon it for the night, 
and to protect it from seizure by the Indians with a guard of 
soldiery. From that time it has borne the name of “ Gun Hill.” 

The Hunt House, on Centre street, opposite Milton Ceme¬ 
tery, was built by Josiah How for his son Lemuel. Lemuel 
subsequently removed to Templeton. Josiah How sold the 
house and land, about seventy rods, with a shoemaker’s shop 
and chaise-house thereon, to Ziba Blake, September 8, 1790. 
Ziba Blake sold it March 3, 1791, to Jeremiah Crane ; at the 
same time Josiah How, of Milton, and Lemuel How, of Temple¬ 
ton, conveyed to the said Jeremiah Crane seven and one-eighth 
acres of land immediately around the house. 

The “ Peggy How ” house, near Milton Cemetery, on Ran- 
dolph avenue and Centre street, is very ancient. It was built 
by Isaac How, who moved from Dorchester to Milton about 
1743. 

On the Asaph Churchill land, Churchill’s lane, south of Mr. C. 
M. S. Churchill’s house, formerly stood four houses built by Mr. 
Churchill many years ago. The cellars alone remain. 

The stone cottage on Randolph avenue, near Reedsdale road, 
was built by Joseph N. Howe, about 1830; he married Rebecca 
Calef, who inherited the land. 

The Henshaw house stood on the corner of Randolph avenue 
and Centre street. In excavating for the cellar of the new Mil- 
ton Academy, the foundation of the chimney was discovered, 
and perfect bricks, probably two hundred and fifty years old, 
were found. 

The house of Col. Elijah Yose stood on the west side of 
Gun-hill street and Randolph avenue. This house was used as 
an inoculating hospital in 1777 and later. 




OLD HOUSES, CELLARS, AND LANDMARKS. 


187 


The Shepard house, now owned and occupied by Thomas H. 
Hinckley, was bought by his father, Capt. Robert Hinckley, of 
Samuel Mather [deed recorded at Dedham, Lib. 86, Fol. 168], 
who bought of John Wells. One of the Mather family once 
lived there ; the shelves now in use in the pantry of the house 
were the book-shelves of Mr. Mather. 


ALGERINE CORNER. 

Hon. Edward H. Robbins owned several tracts of woodland 
in the region of Algerine Corner. These lots were yearly en¬ 
croached on by some of the residents in that section for their 
winter wood to such an extent that he determined to stop it. 
Knowing one of the parties, he went directly to him with this 
proposition : “ If you will promise to keep out of my wood-lot for 
this winter, I will give you the best load of wood ever cut in 
Milton.” The man, looking at him in amazement, replied : “ No, 
Squire, I can’t agree to that bargain, I should lose too much 
money! ” Mr. Robbins retaliated by naming them a “ set of 
Algerines .” The name stuck to the corner. 

Some years ago the residents in the immediate vicinity pro¬ 
posed as a name for this locality, “ Union Square,” which was 
adopted by the town, and made a matter of record. 


188 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


CHAPTER VII. 


HIGHWAYS AND BY-WAYS. 


And round and round, over valley and hill, 
Old roads winding as old roads will, 

Here to a ferry, and there to a mill.” 


[ Whittier. ] 



,N the gathering of people together into neighborhoods, vil- 


lages, and towns, one of the first things to be sought out 
is an easy passage-way from hamlet to hamlet, from house to 
house, to provide for social converse, and for the many occasions 
in life when men are dependent on each other, and need com¬ 
fort, counsel, and aid from their fellow-men. Necessity follows 
the most direct and easy pathway, turning aside to avoid 
obstacles which it has neither time nor power to remove. 

Thus the first settlers of Milton spent but little time or 
money in the construction of roads. They used the “ Indian 
Trail,” or beat out the foot-path, or bridle-path, by following 
each other from day to day in the same track, winding around 
hills, and avoiding low, wet places; and, after a time, widened 
it out for a cart-path. On these tracks they built their houses 
and established their homes, sometimes remote from each other 
and often in the wilderness, apart from any direct communi¬ 
cation with neighbors. There were foot and cart paths, “ drift¬ 
ways,” and “ cattle-beats ” all over the town before the con¬ 
struction of regular roads, and often on the line of these 
early ways, which proved to be the most feasible, the future 
highway was built. 


ROAD OVER MILTOH HILL, 1654. 


The first road in this territory, of which we have any record, 
was laid out from Braintree [now Quincy] over Milton Hill, 
through Dorchester, to the Roxbury line, as follows: — 

Wee whose names are here vnderscribd, and being appynted by our 
several Townes and being mett this first day of the 7 : m° 1654: to lay out 
the High Waye through Dorchester Woods from Brauntre Bounds to Rox¬ 
bury Bounds, do agree as followeth: 




HIGHWAYS AND BY-WAYS. 


189 


first, that the Waye shall be fowre Rodd Wide from Brantre bounds to 
Roxbury bounds, secondly, beginning neere Hinrye Crane’s house the way 
to Lye on the Sowthest side of it in the old Beaten roede waye; and so to a 
Lowe White oake marked on the same side of the waye, and so by the 
marked trees to the brooke ; so from the Brooke the way being Lade in the 
Winter we agreed to take about a roode wide into Anthony Golliford’s lott 
wheare the fence Interrupts the waye; and to a marked post towards 
John Gills house: and from thence to a stake in Elder Kingsley’s yearde, 
and from thence to the mille in the olde beaten roede waye: &c. — 

of Dorchester Nicholas Clape. 

William Clarke. 
of Brantree Moses Paine. 

Gregory Bellcher. 

[Record Commissioners’ Fourth Report, page 70.] 


This road was projected and built by Dorchester before 
Milton was set off. It began near the house of Henry Crane, 
one of our oldest citizens, who lived at East Milton, on the 
north side of Adams street, between the residences of E. B. 
Andrews and Wm. Q. Baxter, somewhat in the rear, and on 
land now owned by N. H. Beals, just where a new house is now 
being built. At a later date the house of Charles Pierce was 
erected in front of the Crane house, quite near the street, 
where the well is now seen. This, too, has disappeared. 
Anthony Golliford’s house stood opposite the house of G. W. 
Bass, between Squantum street ,and the brook. As Adams 
street reaches the brook, going northerly, it diverges out of 
line, north-easterly, into the Gulliver land, as indicated in the 
old record. John Gill’s house, at that date, stood on the north 
side of Adams, nearly opposite the opening of Pleasant and 
Centre streets. Elder Kingsley’s house was near the “ Old 
Babcock House,” now owned by Mr. Cornelius Babcock. 

This old highway, laid out sixty-six feet wide, from the 
Braintree line to the Mill and beyond, is the identical road now 
known as Adams street. It has retained the same general 
direction and outlines for the long period of two hundred and 
thirty years, although not in early times improved to its 
present width. Before it was laid out, there was a beaten 
path from the river, over the hill, and on towards the Ply¬ 
mouth colony. 

It is always referred to in the records of Dorchester as the 
“Country Heigh Waye.” Mr. Edward Adams, of East Milton, 
informs me that when this old way was laid out one of his 
ancestors contracted for building a section of it, and thus se¬ 
cured the tract of land ever since owned by his descendants. 


190 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


TWO OTHER, ROADS BUILT BY DORCHESTER. 

A few years later, and before the incorporation of Milton, two 
highways were laid off from the “ Country Heigh Waye ” to run 
into the woods towards the Blue Hill, as appears in the Fourth 
Report of the Record Commissioners: — 

[Page 94.] “At a meeting of the Selectmen the :10:11:1658: it was 
ordered that William Ro ben son and Thomas Mekens are appointed to lay 
out the landing place by Naponset Mill and the landing place in M r Huchen- 
sons farme: And it is further ordered the same day that the aboue sayd 
William Robenson and Thomas Mekens are appointed [to view] the most 
convenient places for two heigh wayes from the Country heigh way to run 
into the woods towards the Blue Hill and to make Return vnto the select 
men the 14: 12 : next.” 

[Page 100.] “ At a meeting of the select men the 17. (7) 1660 William 

Robenson and Thomas Mekins were appointed to view a place for an heigh 
way that may be Conuenient wher John Gill and Robert Redman shall shew 
you and to make ther returne vnto the select men the 24 of this moneth.” 

[Page 102.] “At a meeting of the select men the 26. (9) 1660 John 
Smith Thomas Mekens and Richard Hall are appointed to lay out the way 
from the Country heigh waye by the meeting house at Vnquetie through John 
Gills land and Robert Redman’s land that is to Run to the way that Runs to 
the blue hills: Alsoe John Smith Thomas Mekens and Richard Hall are 
appointed to lay out the way from the landing place by the mill through 
Robert Yoses Farme” 

[Page 103.] “ At a meeting of the select men the 13 (3) 1661. Thomas 

Mekings John Smith and Richard Hall are appointed vpon the penaltie of 
fiue shillings of each man to lay out and marke or stake out the way from 
the Country heigh waye by the meeting house at Vnquetie through John 
Gills land and Robert Redmans land, that is to Run to the blue Hills: and 
to make Returne vnto the select men by the one and twentieth day of this 
p’sent moneth.” 

[Page 104.] “ The returne of John Smith Thomas Mekings and Richard 
Hall the 21 (3) 1661: we haue layd out and staked the way two rodd and 
halfe broad from the meeting house at vnquetie from John Gills land anti 
Robert Redmans land to John Fenno’s house leading to the way to the Blue 
Hills.” 

The commissioners were dilatory in their work, but the town 
was persevering and determined, and the “ penaltie ” proved 
effective. 

The two roads thus laid out by the inhabitants of Dorchester, 
we may conclude, with a good degree of assurance, are roads 
now improved by the town of Milton, as follows: — 

A PART OP CANTON AVENUE, 1660. 

The way laid out through “Robert Yoses farme” was along 
the line of our Canton avenue as far as Brook road, where stood 
John Glover’s house, at that date belonging to Robert Yose; 




HIGHWAYS AND BY-WAYS. 


191 


then on to Yose’s lane; and, doubtless, along the line of Brook 
road to the bridge over the brook, at some point it met a path¬ 
way towards the Blue Hills. 

CHUKCHILL’s LANE, 1661 . 

The other road from the “Country Heigh Waye” towards 
the Blue Hills was what was named in that day “Yose’s lane,” 
and is now known as “ Churchill’s lane.” This road meets 
all the conditions found in the records. Robert Redman owned 
the land on the northerly side, and lived about half-way down 
the hill. John Gill purchased the estate belonging to the heirs 
of Israel Stoughton, which embraced all the land on the north¬ 
easterly side of Adams street, and extended on the westerly 
side to the base of the hill. John Fenno lived near Milton 
Cemetery. Churchill’s lane is two and a half rods wide, and is 
sufficiently crooked for those times. The road passed through 
the land of Gill and Redman to the house of John Fenno, 
where it united with Gun Hill path, or some other path lead¬ 
ing to the Blue Hills. 

All other existing roads from Adams street, or the “ Country 
Heigh Waye,” are of later date. Randolph avenue, Centre 
street, and Pleasant street were made after the corporate exist¬ 
ence of Milton, and are fully described in our. town records. 
The conclusion, then, is fairly drawn that the road in question 
is our Churchill’s lane. 

The importance of exactness in the location of this road is 
manifest, when it is known that here for the first time a meet¬ 
ing-house at Unquetie is spoken of, and that these records 
afford the only data from which we are to learn where this 
first meeting-house stood. 

The general idea has been, and until late the only one, that 
the first meeting-house was erected on the land donated by 
Robert -Yose, near the north-east corner of Yose’s lane and 
Centre street. The meeting-house that stood on the Yose land 
was built in 1671, nine years after the incorporation of Milton, 
while the house here referred to was standing in 1660, and, 
doubtless, ten years before. 

In the old town records there is reference to this first meet¬ 
ing-house, as follows: — 

At a town meeting the last day of September 1670 it was agreed by the 
Towne vote that ther should be a convenient meeting-house for the townes 
use built neare about Goodman Yose, his loked barre & also that the old 
meeting house be repaired to meet in this winter and Seargeant W m Blake 
Seargeant Rob 4 Badcock Seargeant Sam. Wadsworth Thom. Swift Antony 


192 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Golliford and Robert Tucker was chosen by the towne to see the old house 
repaired as soon as they can, and to see the new one built in one years 
time if they can. 

LOCATION OF FIRST MEETING-HOUSE. 

The location of the first meeting-house was, therefore, on or 
near this road. 

The Dorchester records of the two meetings of 1660 and 1661 
instruct the commissioners in each case: — 

To lay out the way from the Country Heigh Waye by the meeting house 
at Unquetie through John Gills land, and Robert Redmans land. 

The return of the commissioners is as follows: — 

We have layd out and staked the way two rodd and halfe broad from 
the meeting house at vnquetie, from John Gills land and Robert Redman’s 
land to John Fenno’s house. 

If we construe the word by, in the records of the two meet¬ 
ings, adverbially, according to its early use, as meaning near, 
at a point near, or in the vicinity of, implying that they started 
from the “ Country Heigh Waye ” at a point near the meeting¬ 
house at Unquetie, we reconcile these records with the return 
of the commissioners, who report that they have staked out the 
road from the meeting-house at Unquetie to John Fenno’s 
house. Looking at the records in this light we decide that the 
first meeting-house of Milton stood on Milton Hill, opposite 
or near the opening of Churchill’s lane. 

On the other hand, if we take the later use of the word by, 
the conclusion will he that they laid out the road from the 
“ Country Heigh Waye” through John Gill’s land and Robert 
Redman’s land, passing the meeting-house at Unquetie on their 
course. Then the first meeting-house was at some point on 
this road; and in view of the residence of most of the in¬ 
habitants, and convenience of access, we should expect it to 
stand not far from Milton Cemetery. It was, doubtless, a very 
humble building, only sufficient to afford shelter to the smail 
number of worshippers. The first meeting-house of Salem, built 
in 1634, the frame of which is now standing, was seventeen by 
twenty feet in size. In 1672 it was converted into a school-house. 
A very early school-house on Milton Hill stood on the trian¬ 
gular piece of headland at the opening of Churchill’s lane 
(which opening at that date was larger than now), Adams 
street passing it on the north-east and Churchill’s lane on the 
north and south. This may have been the location of the 
meeting-house, or the identical building. The weight of evi- 



HIGHWAYS AND BY-WAYS. 


193 


dence seems to bear in this direction. We know that the 
meeting was sustained by the union of Braintree and Milton 
people; that Adams street was the only regularly established 
road, and that Elder Kingsley, the leading character, and most 
of the settlers, in the early times, lived on or near the 
“ Country Heigh Waye.” 1 



PLEASANT STREET, 1669. 

The first road laid out by the town of Milton, of which 
there is a description in the town records, was Pleasant street. 
This narrow and crooked street, which has come down to us 
with as little change in its original direction and width, as any 
road in town, shows the custom of the early residents of cut¬ 
ting out a way from their dwellings and farms to neigh¬ 
borhoods, churches, and needful localities, regardless of lines 
and curves; sometimes, as in this case, following drift-ways 
worn by the cattle in the passage to and from pasturage and 
drinking places. 

Pleasant street, formerly called New State, the direct work of 
our fathers, is, even now, one of the most beautiful and inter- 


1 Since the above was written, Benjamin F. Dudley, a resident of fifty years on 
Milton Hill, asked me the question : “ Did you know they used to hold public worship 
in the old school-house at the head of Churchill’s lane ? ” Never did question gain 
quicker attention! For, bating the hints drawn from the description of roads in the 
Dorchester records, it was the only gleam of light thrown on this first meeting-house, 
after a most exhaustive search among old records, documents, and citizens. I learned 
that his information was from members of the old Swift family, living in the near vicinity 
from the beginning, some of whom doubtless worshipped in that first meeting-house, and 
perhaps helped to build it. He thought “ Aunt Fanny,” whose memory of facts re¬ 
lated to her, and whose intelligent construction of circumstances would reach back over 
a space of one hundred and fifty years, was his informant. She attended school in the 
house after it was converted into a school-house. This concurrent testimony would 
seem toy?* the location of the first meeting-house at the head of Churchill’s lane. 






194 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


esting of our streets. It is bordered, on the southerly and 
easterly side, by woods and gently rounded knolls, already 
crowned, in many cases, by the dwellings of our citizens. The 
extensive grounds of Mr. Edward Cunningham, stretching over 
one hundred and fifty acres of meadow and forest, beautifully 
diversified by hill and dale, can hardly be surpassed in the 
quiet, rude magnificence of nature so carefully preserved. The 
transcript of the laying out of roads will be, in all cases, in the 
exact language and spelling of the Records, and the records 
quoted are those of Milton, unless otherwise stated. 

Milton, April 5, 1669. Upon complaint made by Divers persons of 
the necessity of a way to be layd out the East Side of ye town marsh of the 
line that way, and divers persons intending to build houses and emprove 
ther land thereabout and also ther being much feeding land ther about, and 
many Cattle using to goe ther about, and ther being no convenient plas 
for cattle to gett water in all that side of the town except the Brook that 
runs between Mr. Holmans and Anthony Gullivers house, with other rea¬ 
sons ; and the Selectmen having considered the allegations and viewed the 
place, do judge mete, and do order that ther shall be a way for carting and 
recourse for Cattle from the Country highway near the house that Anthony 
Gulliver bought of John Gill, and so to run through Richard Collicut’s 
land by the outside of his fence in the same cartway as to go to georg 
Badcocks land &c . . . till it do come to Samuel Wadsworth’s land. And it 
is agreed and ordered that the way shall run through Samuel Wadsworth’s 
land and further as need shall require. 

The points in this description are sufficiently well known to 
fix the identity of the street here laid out. 

The house first occupied by John Gill, and here spoken of as 
bought by Anthony Gulliver, stood on the north side of Adams 
street, opposite the opening of Pleasant, and was last known as 
the “Rawson house.” Richard Collicut owned the J. W. 
Brooks place, with all the land down the hill to Pleasant street. 
The Babcocks lived up Pleasant street, where some of the fam¬ 
ily, within a hundred and fifty years, carried on a tannery in the 
rear of the house of S. Brown. Samuel Wadsworth held a tract 
of one hundred acres, extending from Canton avenue to the 
Braintree line. The road struck his land near the point of its 
present junction with Randolph avenue; then, just north of the 
blacksmith’s shop, it passed up over the hill and down again, 
across Randolph avenue, and directly up Reed’s lane, “ through 
Samuel Wadsworth’s land.” There is no other record of the' 
building of Reed’s lane. 

ROAD PEOM MATTAPAN TO THE BROOK, 1670-3. 

At a very early time there was an Indian trail, and afterwards 
cart-path, now mostly extinct, except as far as the Ruggles 




HIGHWAYS AND BY-WAYS. 


195 


houses and Central avenue, commencing on Canton avenue at 
Ruggles lane, and passing by his house and westerly, across 
Central avenue and land of John M. Forbes, to a point on our 
Brook road between the residences of T. H. Hinckley and Miss 
Forbes, now marked by a gate. This way continued over Brush 
Hill to the “ Fresh meadows.” It is distinctly traced on the 
historical map. Edward Yose owned a farm on the easterly 
side of the “ Church land.” His house stood somewhat south 
of the residence of Mr. John H. Burt. In the year 1673 a road 
was laid out, beginning at the corner of his farm, at the Brush 
Hill way, leading to the Fresh meadows, and running nearly in 
the direction and almost in the line of Thacher street, “ towards 
the brook called Bolsters brook , to the corner of Ezra Clapps 
land; ” there it turned to the left, and running easterly parallel 
with the brook, united with Brook road on the north-west side 
of the bridge, nearly opposite the house of J. H. Dudley, Jr. In 
the configuration of the land between Thacher street and Brook 
road, and parallel with the brook, the old way may be traced 
out, with its walls partly standing, to this day. 


FOOT-PATH FROM COUNTRY HIGHWAY TO MEETING—HOUSE, 
1672. 

In May, 1672, a foot-path, four feet wide, was laid out by 
Anthony Gulliver, Thomas Swift, and John Fenno, from the 
“ Country Heigh Waye ” to the meeting-house. It began at, or 
near, Algerine corner, and ran for a short distance nearly in the 
course of Centre street [built in 1824] ; then it passed over 
upon the land of B. F. Dudley, and crossed the “swampe at a 
plase known by.the name of Shepe Bridge,” and so met the 
“town highway” [Churchill’s lane], near the residence of C. 
M. S. Churchill. “ Shepe Bridge ” was on the land of Mr. Dud¬ 
ley, probably at the point where his bridge now crosses the 
stream. The same large, flat stone that first covered the bridge 
has been re-laid by Mr. Dudley, and retained to the present time. 
The meeting-house at that time was on the Robert Yose lot. 


VOSE’S LANE, 1673. 

In the year 1673 Yose’s lane was laid out by Robert Yose, 
two rods wide, “from the woods gate,” to the parallel line, in¬ 
stead of an open highway from the meeting-house to his barn, 
and thence to the woods gate formerly laid out by the town, 
“which was grievous to said Yose.” 




196 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


FOOT-PATH FEOM BRUSH HILL TO MEETING—HOUSE, 1674. 

Milton the 30 th day of the first Month 1674. Wee whos names are un¬ 
derwritten by ordr from the Select men, have laid out a footpath from 
Brush Hill to ye Meeting House in Milton as followeth, that is to say: be¬ 
ginning at the highway at Farnsworth Lot leading down to Edward Yose 
his Stonewall as is manifest by divers marked trees, and from thence 
straight to the field of Edward Yose his house, and so by Ezra Clapp’s 
barn, and thence to the brook, and so along the highway to a walnut tree 
at Yose his cornfield, and thence strait over Goodman Yose [Robert Yose] 
his pasture to the Meeting house as is manifest by marked trees and 
stumps. Which way is to be four feet wide. 

Increase Sumner. 

William Blake. 

Ezra Clapp. 

This foot-path started at the lot purchased by Robert Tucker 
of Widow Farnsworth, near the head of Robbins street, fifty 
years before Robbins street was laid out, and ran in a north¬ 
easterly direction, crossing the Church land, Blue Hill avenue, 
and Mattapan street north of the “ Myers house,” till it struck 
the street opened in 1670, running by Edward Yose’s farm to 
Balster’s brook, and thence it ran by Ezra Clapp’s barn to the 
brook near Mr. Dudley’s house [then Jonathan Badcock’s] ; 
crossing the brook it took a course along Brook road to near 
White street, and then crossed “Goodman Yose’s pasture,” 
now owned by Shepherd, Frothingham, Whitney, and Gannett, 
to the meeting-house on the Yose lot. A cart-path also led 
from Brush Hill to the rear of the ice-houses, on Mattapan 
street, where the foot travel passed on a “ Log.” 


BRUSH HILL ROAD, 1676-7. 

The select men of Milton doe order that ther shall be an open way two 
rods wide too begine at Neponset Riv r where they used to goe and from 
the place called the Oxpen, and so up the Beaten Rode soe that it come to 
the southerly side of George Sumners lot wher the way is fenced out, and 
so from the corner of Goodman Sumners uper field, that is the southely 
corner next the highway, and so to run a Straight line till it comes to 
Ebenezer Claps corner of his upper feld next the way, we mene that corner 
next to Goodman Clemons land, and the way to lie on the lower side of the 
line 2 Rods wide and so to keep the Beaten Road to the plaine til it com to 
the way leading to the Blew hil meadows, and we doe order Goodman 
Tucker Sen. and george Lion and henry Glover to stake out the way from 
the southerly corner of georg Sumners uper feeld to Runy strait with the 
corner of Ebenezers upper feeld next the way, which way is to bee tow 
Rods brod. 

Robert Tucker, Anthony Gulliver, 

Thom. Swift, Thomas Holman, 

Selectmen. 



HIGHWAYS AND BY-WAYS. 


197 


The above road began at the ford on the river, and ran in the 
rear of the Hollingsworth house, meeting the old drift-way, to 
the ox-pen, and thence from Mattapan street, by the Schofield 
estate, to Brush Hill street, and to the Blue Hill meadows, 
called later the Great Fowle meadows. Many years prior to 
the laying out of this road there was a beaten pat^L to Ponkapog, 
the home of the Indians. 

ROAD FROM PINE TREES TO MEETING-HOUSE, 1680. 

The records show that a public way was laid out from the 
pine trees, over the Church land, to the meeting-house, in 
1680. It appears not to have been completed, and for years 
was in a rough and perhaps impassable condition, as, forty-one 
years later, it was laid out anew on the same ground. 

March 2. 1723-4 It was voted that there should be a way laid out on 
the parallel line, on the south east side of the Church land. We began at 
the corner of sd. Chh. land near pine tree bridge and laid out the sd. way 
one and a half rods on each side of the parallel line until we came to the 
other corner of sd. Church land near the dwelling house of Nathaniel 
Pitcher. 

John Wadsworth ] 

Henry Yose 

Benjamin Fenno } Selectmen. 

John Daniel 

Samuel Wadsworth, J 

March 16 1723. 

ROAD FROM PINE TREES TO DORCHESTER LINE, 1681. 

The year after the road was opened from the pine trees to 
the meeting-house it was extended westerly to the Dorchester 
line [now Canton]. 

Milton 1.5 m , 1681. The select men of Milton laid out a highway leading 
from the pine trees to Dorchester line; going to punckapog they began at 
the line between the towns — the first being a chestnut two rods eastward 
and so run to a whit-oche marked on the west . . . and so to keep the 
ould way til we come to the ridge hill, and so along the top of the ridge 
we came near Thomas Swifts lot . . . and so to a black ocke on the west 
side and so to the side of Henry Glovers fense, and then turning a litell 
about ner the spring we marked 2 trees more, and so to the parallel line 
beinge upon Ralph hofifens lote and so along the parallel line to John 
Fenno’s lande till we come to Samuel Pitcher’s and so over the plain by 
John dick’s land till we come to near the pine trees, thus far was don that 
day. 

Robert Tucker ] 

George Sumner [ 

Thomas Swift [ Selectmen. 
Henry Crane | 

Thomas Holman, J 



198 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


CHANGE IN LOCATION OF BBOOK BOAD, 1694. 

Whereas there was a way laid out by the selectmen of Milton upon the 
25 th day of the 12 mo. 1673 from the northwest corner of Edward Yoses 
pasture at the woods gate as it now goes from said gate oyer the brook by 
Jonathan Badcocks house, and so by Ezra Clapps house till it comes to Mr 
Thachers barn, and from thence over y e plain till it comes to the way lead¬ 
ing from the oxpen to Brush Hill; but upon further consideration, we the 
present Select men of Milton this present year 1694 for several reasons do 
see cause to remove some part of said ways, that is to say, that part of said 
way that was laid out from Mr Peter Thachers Barn that now is till it come 
to the highway leading from the oxpen to Brush Hill — and instead of going 
there it shall begin, and is by us laid out from the brook by Jonathan Bad¬ 
cocks house where the bridge now is upon said Badcock’s land, and so 
many rods wide as is needful for the conveniensy of long teams with long 
timber comfortably to gain and enter the bridge, till it come to the west end 
of said Badcocks barn, and from thence to go two rods wide &c . . . till 
it come and mete the aforesaid way which leads from the oxpen to Brush 
Hill. This is to be an open way without either gates or bars. 

The Jonathan Badcock house was a part of the house now 
owned by J. H. Dudley, Jr. Fifty-six years ago, when this estate 
was purchased by Charles Breck, the eastern portion of the 
house was so time-worn and decayed that new sills and timbers 
were needful; while the westerly part was sound and modern. 
A part of this house, therefore, has, we have no doubt, an 
antiquity of more than two hundred years. 

A careful analysis of the above record will show that the way 
therein described as changed to the present Brook road between 
the house of Dudley and the ox-pen, before this change, turned 
sharply to the west, just north of the bridge, and ran between 
the brook and the barn now standing, as far as the barn of 
Rev. Mr. Thacher, when it turned northerly, following about 
the line of Thacher street, and terminated in the open space 
at the junction of Brook road and Mattapan street, near the 
ox-pen. 


BEY. PETEB THACHEE’s CELLAB. 

The knowledge of this early way passing the residence of 
Milton’s first pastor allays the surprise, so often felt, that he 
should have built his house in this out-of-the-way place. 

Near this road, which is here discontinued, is found the cellar 
of Rev. Peter Thacher, and also the site of Ezra Clapp’s house, 
his nearest neighbor and faithful parishioner. From the centre 
of Mr. Thacher’s cellar has grown up an elm which has attained 
great size, and spreads its pendent limbs over the whole site of 
the former dwelling. On the ground near by lie two smoothly 
worn flat stones, which served for steps or flagging; while 



HIGHWAYS AND BY-WAYS. 


199 



within sound the brook murmurs by. These little fragments 
of the past, mementos of other days and other men, are, indeed, 
impressive messengers, seeming to say: — 

“ And this our life exempt from public haunts, 

Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 

Sermons in stones, and good in everything.” 

No one would surmise that in a place, to us so remote, rarely 
visited, and almost unknown, could ever have transpired scenes 
of such thrilling interest. Here lived, during forty years of 
his long pastorate, amid the aspirations and despondencies of an 
eventful life, one whom, after the lapse of two centuries, we 
recall with affection and reverence; and from this place he 
passed to the home above. 


On this spot, in the year 1689, was begun the first regular 
prayer-meeting in Milton, on Friday evening. It was continued 
during the life of Mr. Thacher; it was taken up by succeeding 
pastors for the same evening ; it has never been discontinued ; 
it will, I am sure, be sacredly observed while time remains. 

Visiting this ground in early June, when every landscape 
smiles with radiant promise, and rejoices in the sweetness of song 
and in the exuberance of animal and insect life, I was standing 
near this overspreading tree, lost in the suggestive thoughts 
awakened by the surroundings, when an oriole in the limbs 



200 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


above poured forth his rich, exultant song. It thrilled my soul 
with the deepest emotion. The notes of praise, mute on human 
lips, seemed to be taken up, and prolonged, and borne aloft by 
nature’s voices. 

FOOT-PATH FROM HEW STATE TO MEETING-HOUSE, 1696. 

In 1696 a foot-path was laid out “ from the house of Thomas 
Horton over land of Mr. Badcock, John Fenno, Daniel Hen- 
shaw, Charles and John Redman, to the town hye way which 
gos to the meeting house.” It followed about the course of 
Gun Hill street, and perhaps was afterwards changed into this 
highway. 


BRUSH HILL ROAD WIDENED, 1706. 

We have the following record of the widening of Brush Hill 
road: — 

Complaint being made to us, the Selectmen of Milton, namely : Thomas 
Swift, Georg Sumner Jonathan Gulliver Manasseh Tucker and Thomas 
Vose, by several of our inhabitants, that there was very great need of lay¬ 
ing the ways wider, coming down the north-east side of Brush Hill through 
a part of Dorchester Church Lands, by reason there is no passing in time of 
snow and ise where the way now is ; therefore, for the better accommodat¬ 
ing of passage down said hill, we beeing met thereon upon the 26 day of 
September 1706, Samuel Triscot being present with us we agreed upon a 
walnut tree to be marked with a dublue on the north side, said tree standing 
near the corner of Samuel Triscot’s orchard and on the north side of the 
old way, from thence to a walnut tree also marked with a dublue on that 
side next the highway, from thence to heap of stones by the old saw-pit, 
from thence to a great black oak over the run, from thence to a great ould 
stump with a heap of stones upon it and is neir the old way in the Sandy 
Yalley. 

Recorded the 9 day of October 1706 by me 

Thomas Yose, Town Clerk. 

The house of Samuel Trescott was directly opposite the resi¬ 
dence of Hon. James M. Robbins ; traces of the cellar are still 
visible, and the Trescott well, over against the avenue to the 
Robbins mansion, is still in use. From this point the road was 
widened to Brook road, and beyond through Long pasture 1 to 
its present junction with Mattapan street. 


i The Town of Dorchester owned a tract of land of two hundred and fifty-five acres 
on the Milton side at Mattapan, known as the “ Long pasture.” This was, doubtless, 
a part of the “ Ministerial land,” and may have extended up the river as far as the north- 
ern boundary of the Robbins estate. 

March 2, 1801. The “Long pasture ” was leased by Dorchester to Jeremiah Smith 
Boies, Esq., for five hundred years, at the rate of forty-nine dollars per acre, and one 
cent a year during the term, amounting to the sum of $1,249.50, “ reserving, however, 
about two acres between the old and new way, which they consider expedient.” This 
tract of “ about two acres,” lying between Brook road and Brush Hill road, is now 




HIGHWAYS AND BY-WAYS. 


201 


ROAD FROM OX-PEN TO MATTAPAN BRIDGE, 1712. 

In the early part of the last century that portion of Milton 
about Mattapan was mostly a wilderness, and was known as a 
part of the “ Five-hundred acre lot.” It was, to a great extent, 
covered by woods, but afforded also much pasturage, which was 
used by the proprietors of the common lands, called Common¬ 
ers, as grazing land for their cattle, under the charge of herds¬ 
men. Here was located what is often spoken of in our records 
as the “ Ox-pen,” an enclosure for herding the oxen and steers 
at night, or whenever necessary. The “ Cow walk ” was nearer 
the Lower Mills. 

The following transcript from the Dorchester records will be 
of interest in this connection. 

The herdsmen here spoken of are old Milton citizens : — 

Dorchester the 26 of the second mo : 1653. It is covenanted and agreed 
by and between the select men of this towne for this p’sent yeare and 
Antoney Newton and Willm Solsbury of the same towne that the said 
Antoney Newton and Willm Solsbury shall and will from the 9 of the 3 
moneth next insueingvntil the 27 or 28 day of 7 moneth following keepe all 
such oxen or steeres in a heard, as shall at their first goeing forth be 
deli’ued vnto them for that inde by any of the inhabitants of the said towne 
and none of other townes to be received or kept with them without leeve or 
lysense from the said town first had and obtayned. Their walk or place of 
feeding to be on the further side of the river Norponset and above or 
beyond the Cow walke of Dorchester and not suffered to goe among the 
Cowes. And also the said Anthoney Newton and Willia Solsbury doth 
covenant to and with the said selectmen, to goe forth with the oxen and 
steeres halfe an hower by sonn, and bring them to their appointed place or 
pen so called abought sonn sitting eury night that so the owners may 
have them if they please to send for them either in the eveneing or in the 
morneing before the said tyme of their goeing forth and not be disapointed 
when they have vrgent occasion to vse them. And to make the denn suffi¬ 
cient for largnesse of ground that so the Oxen or Steeres may be les iniu- 
rious or hurtfull one vnto an other as also sufficient in point of fence, and 
for their faithfulness^ and care herein they the said Antony and Willm is to 
have twoe shillings a head to be paid at twoe paymts, the one.halfe within 
one moneth after they be put to them and the other halfe at the end of the 7 
moneth following at som convenient place in towne where they doe appoint, 
but if in case they be driven to com for their pay then they are allowed to 
receive two shillings and two pence a head. 

William Salsbor * * 

Eobt Howard in the name 
of the rest of the Select men. 

[Record Commissioners, Yol. IV, p. 62.] 

The ox-pen was situated near the point where Brook road 
crosses Mattapan street, a position convenient for residents of 


owned by the City of Boston, and has long been used as a gravel pit. [See Dorchester 
Records, March 2 , 1801 .] 




202 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Brush Hill, and for citizens in other parts of Milton, reaching it 
over Brook road, as well as for the mass of the inhabitants 
north of the river. A cattle beat led to the ford on the Dor¬ 
chester side, and extended from the ford to the ox-pen. The 
ford was a short distance west of the Mattapan bridge. 

The bridge spoken of at the date specified in the following 
extract from the Milton records, if built at or near that time, was 
a private one for the convenience of the mill-owners ; and the 
road then laid out may not have been opened, except as a bridle¬ 
path, as the first reliable evidence of a bridge at this point and 
a road to the same is as follows: “ Road to bridge near 

Jacksons Mill laid out by a jury in 1734. Bridge built by the 
Court of General Sessions in 1786.” The “ road to bridge ” 
referred to above may have been the road on the Dorchester 
side. 

June 24, 1712. The Select men namely Jonathan Gulliver Ebenezer 
Wadsworth Ephriam Tucker met by appointment to lay out an open high¬ 
way from the Oxpen to the river where there is to be a cartbridge erected 
and we began by the river where the bridge is to be made and marked a 
red oak on the east side, and the highway is to be on the east side two rods 
in width ; then we marked another red oak by the side of the trench, the 
way lying on the east side of said tree, then we proseded and marked 
another red oak and the way is to ly on the west side, then the way is to run 
in a strait line till it comes to a small walnut tree by the way side where it 
now lies and the way is to be on the west side of said tree, then to go as 
the way now lies till it meets the way that leads over the river commonly 
called the oxpen way; and said way is to be two rods wide. 

While it is difficult to trace out and identify many of the 
roads projected in the early years of the town, as all landmarks 
except parallel lines, rivers, brooks, and rocks have^ long ago 
disappeared, this road may be readily identified. 

If we extend the line of the old drift-way from the ox-pen 
passing the Austin Mansion, straight to the river, it will cross 
the estate of G. Hollingsworth in the rear of his house, and 
reach just the position of the “ old ford ” on the river. The 
way here described is the road as it now runs from the bridge, 
and a short distance south of the Hollingsworth house, until it 
intersects this old drift-way from the ox-pen. The present road, 
if not built till 1734, is in the line of the road here laid out in 
1712. 


ROAD OVER THE BLUE HILL LARD, 1713. 

At the request of the inhabitants of the Town of Milton, the Select men 
met the 29 of April 1713, namely Capt. Jonathan Gulliver Manassath Tucker 
Ebenezer Wadsworth Ephraim Tucker to lay out a highway over the land 



HIGHWAYS AND BY-WAYS. 


208 


commonly called the blue hill land, we being met we began at the brook 
beyond Samuel Tuckers house, and marked a small white oake which is to 
be in the middle of the way, and we proceeded and marked a black oake 
&c ... and from thence to a rock and the way to ly on the west side and 
from thence between John Wadsworths house and barn til it comes to the 
way that lies on the back side of said Wadsworths house, and at the meet¬ 
ing of the Select men since the above day, they then agreed that the way 
should be where it now is from John Wadsworths house till it comes to the 
southwest corner of Deacon Swifts Lott, then the way is to ly between the 
land of Deacon Swift and John Wadsworth till it comes to the land of John 
Hersey and then to ly between the land of John Wadsworth and John 
Hersey till it comes to the highway yt lys by Nathaniel Pitchers house and 
the way to ly on John Wadsworths a rod and a half in width — and on the 
land commonly called the blue hill land the way is to be two rods wide and 
to ly open, and John Wadsworth has liberty to lay the way strait from 
his house till it comes to the south west corner of Deacon Swifts land but 
the way on John Wadsworths land is not as yet to ly open 
Entered the 26 day of December 1713 

by me Ephraim Tucker Town Clerk. 

The above-described road is Highland street, and a part of 
Randolph avenue and of Hillside street. The description begins 
on Hillside street, at the brook south-west of Samuel Cook’s 
house. Charles K. Hunt now lives in the Samuel Tucker house. 
It proceeds over the line of Hillside street and Randolph avenue, 
which diverges a little from the old way, to the house of Mr. 
David W. Tucker, where the old road branches off easterly from 
Randolph avenue, and crosses it again near the house of Mr. 
George Vose; passing the Yose and Gannett estate, and the 
“ Bent Bakery,” it continues on the line of Highland street, 
passing through the Wadsworth land, in its entire length to 
Canton avenue, opposite the Academy house, formerly the resi¬ 
dence of Andrew Pitcher. 

WHITE’S LANE, 1714. 

The next year, White’s lane, now White street, was opened. 

At the request of some of the inhabitants of the Town of Milton, the 
Select-men of Milton met the 5 day of April 1714 to lay out an open high¬ 
way from the highway leading to the meeting house to the way that lys by 
Seargeant Peter White’s we being by the way leading 1 by Sergeant Whites 
we began a few rods on the land of Mr Roson &c. .... and soe to the 
bounds between the land of Daniel Hensher on the west and Sergent Thomas 
Vose East and from thence by the highway that leads by the Meeting house 
one rod in width on the land of Daniel Hensher, and one rod in width on 
the land of Thomas Vose. 

Ephriam Tucker } a , . 

Jonathan Gulliver \ Selectmen - 

Sergeant White lived on the north-west corner of White 
street and the extension of Central avenue, from Brook road to 



204 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Thacher street. The meeting-house then stood on the Robert 
Yose lot. 

ROBBINS STREET, 1722. 

The Select men John Wadsworth Benjamin Eenno Edward Blake and 
Samuel Wadsworth laid out the public way from the way leading over 
Brush Hill to the way that is made use of oyer the Church land. Beginning 
near Deacon Manassah Tuckers barn on Brush Hill we laid it half a l'od on 
Deacon Ephraim Tuckers land and a rod on Deacon Manassah Tucker’s 
land, and near the end of a stone wall dividing the above mentioned Dea¬ 
cons’ land, it is to be a rod wide on Deacon Ephraim Tucker’s land, and 
from thence on the strait line we laid the way three quarters of a rod on 
each Deacons land until we came to the land of William Sumner and then 
we laid the way three quarters of a rod wide on each side of the line until 
we came to Deacon Manassah Tuckers land and three quarters of a rod wide 
between William Sumners land and Deacon Manassah Tuckers land until 
we wanted three rods of coming to the end of William Sumners land, and to 
run near east with a strait line to the nearest corner of Ebenezer Sumners 
land, and then three quarters of a rod on each side between Ebenezer Sumner 
on one side and Deacon Manassah Tucker and his son Ebenezer on the other 
side until we come to the Brook near the house of said Ebenezer Tucker and 
in a strait line over the corner of Ebenezer Tuckers land, and a corner of 
Ebenezer Sumners land into the other way. It is consented that there be 
two good sufficient gats on the said way that is to say one at each end. 


There was much controversy about this road, and it was 
not f ull y built until 1734. But the general direction herein 
described is still retained. The bend in the street midway, run¬ 
ning nearly east and west, identifies it as the road in question. 
Ebenezer Tucker owned the land now owned by D. Murphy, 
and probably the identical house now standing. In a second 
laying out of this way his house is spoken of as on the east 
side, and his barn on the west. The tract of land through 
which the road passed had been in the possession of the Tuck¬ 
ers and Sumners for upwards of sixty years. In 1852-3 Rob¬ 
bins street, then called New lane, was widened and greatly 
improved, at the expense of $844.11. 


ROAD OVER BLUE HILL LAND FROM STOUGHTON TO 
S. TUCKER’S, 1734. 

At the request .of the inhabitants of the Town of Milton we the subscrib¬ 
ers met on the (26) day of June 1734 to lay out an open highway over the 
land commonly called Blue Hill Land. We began at Stoughton line at the 
corner of Mr John Puffer’s stone wall and laid it out two rods wide wheare 
the way now goes untill we came near Edward Adams’ Jr. house, we marked 
a blacke oake at the bottom of the hill the way to be two rods on the south 
of said tree and so on the south side of a great rock with a heap of 
stones on the top of the rock and so to come into the way to Edward Adams’ 
house & so keeping the old way untill we came «ear a stony brook and 




HIGHWAYS AND BY-WAYS. 


205 


on the left hand of the way we marked a white oake tree in the middle of 
way and so come to Braintree line and so on the south side of Nathaniel 
Houghtons house as the way now goes until! we come to the easterly side of 
Deacon Manassah Tuckers Lote and so turning to the left hand in a foot 
path down the hill and so over the brook in Mr Samuel Millers land and 
keeping the old way untill we come to a wet piece of land neare John 
Pitcher’s and so to the old way and so on over the brook neare Mr Samuel 
Tuckers house. 



There are brooks and houses referred to in this description 
sufficient to enable us to decide that the road here laid out was 
nearly identical with Hillside street from Canton line to Mr. 
Samuel Cook’s, and at this point joined the road laid out 
twenty-one years before, extending over Highland street to 
Canton avenue. Before the construction of this road it is 
supposed that there was what was called the “ east way to Pon- 
kapog.” Reference to this way is seen in the division of the 
three thousand acres of Blue Hill lands between Milton and 
Braintree. In running the division line the Commissioners 
say : — 

Beginning at a heap of stones in the bound line of the easterly end of the 
three thousand acors of Blue Hill Land, &c. . . . we proseeded and "ran a 
line west.and by South nine degrees Southerly, and marked several trees in 
the line with letters, as aforesaid, until we came to a gray oak tree standing 
near the cartway leading from Milton to Poncapog, by the foot of one of 
the Blue Hills. 

Following by compass the exact direction designated in the 
report of the Commissioners, we found at the foot of Chickatau- 
but Hill an old cart-path, which was traced to its beginning near 
the “ Samuel Tucker ” house on Hillside street. This was 
known as “ Brook lane.” It opened at the brook, south of 
Samuel Cook’s, and passed easterly over C. L. Copeland’s land, 
crossing Randolph avenue a little north of E. Snow’s house, and, 
running into the woods easterly and southerly between Glover’s 
Hill and Bear Hill, made its way into Braintree, and probably 
on the south side of Blue Hill river to Ponkapog. Doubtless 
before the road from the Stoughton line, now Hillside street, 
was laid out, there was passing in that direction by undeveloped 
drift-ways; but the travel southerly and easterly was probably 
by the line of this extinct pathway. At a later period, before 
the building of Randolph avenue and Forest street, the way to 
Randolph was from “ White’s Tavern ” diagonally across the 


206 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Copeland estate to the big rock on Randolph avenue, near the 
Quincy line. Forest street was not opened until many years 
after the opening of Hillside from the Stoughton line. 

ROAD AROUND WIGWAM HILL, 1764. 

We the subscribers, finding it necessary to have a road through a pasture 
on the west side of Wigwam Hill, so called, to avoid going over the same 
as it now runs, Have Surveyed the same and have laid out a Public Road of 
two rods wide, the West Side of which road is to begin at a heap of stones 
op the stone wall about two rods to the eastward of a stone bridge on south 
side of said hill, thence in a strait line till it comes through a rocky piece 
of ground on the west side of said Hill, thence to the south corner of Oxen- 
bridge Thacher’s land on the west side of the old road. June 26, 1764. 
Stephen Miller, Jeremiah Tucker, Isaac How. 

Wigwam Hill is the first Hill south-west of Academy Hill, ex¬ 
tending from the pound to Pine-tree brook. 

This road around the hill is now extinct. Traces of it are 
seen in the stony tract through the woods. It began two rods 
east of Pine-tree bridge and ran across the B. S. Rotch estate, 
a little south of the Rotch mansion, and across the land of Isaac 
C. Gulliver to the Thacher land, which was south as well as 
north of the brook, and terminated at some road near the 
Thacher estate, perhaps Canton avenue, or it may be Brook 
road. The meeting-house was still on the Yose lot. The object 
of the road seems to have been to avoid passing over the hill 
from the pine trees to the meeting-house, although the road 
over the hill along the parallel line was laid out in 1681, and a 
.second time definitely located in 1728. For some reason known 
to our fathers the road over Wigwam Hill was a hard road to 
travel. 


SUSPENSION OF ROAD-BUILDING. 

The inhabitants of the town, having provided themselves with 
such roads as were required for the convenience of travel and 
for the necessities of business, seemed to have turned their 
attention to other matters, and but little. was done in road¬ 
building during the last half of the eighteenth century. Indeed, 
so often were they called from peaceful pursuits to the protec¬ 
tion of their liberties and the defence of their homes, that no 
time was left for public improvements; besides, heavy drafts 
on their numbers and resources, continually made by the country, 
reduced them to a deplorable condition of weakness and poverty. 
But, with the opening of a new century and the return of 
more favorable conditions, attention was again directed to the 
needs of the town. 




HIGHWAYS AND BY-WAYS. 


207 


In the period of turnpike roads two of these ways were pro¬ 
jected in Milton: the Blue Hill turnpike, latterly called the 
Randolph turnpike, and the Brush Hill turnpike. 

BRUSH HILL TURNPIKE. 

A petition for this road was made by Joseph Billings, 
Samuel Leonard, and others, Feb. 6, 1804, and a committee was 
chosen by the town to oppose the same. 

Feb. 7, 1805, voted that we do highly disapprove of a turnpike being 
made from the road at the west end of the Blew Hills to the upper bridge, 
as petitioned by Samuel Leonard, and others. 

The turnpike was located in 1805-9, and was continued as a 
turnpike until 1857, when its franchise was surrendered, and 
the surrender was accepted on condition that it he laid out as a 
highway. In 1859 the General Court limited the time for laying 
out the highway to one year from the passage of the act. With¬ 
in the designated period the County Commissioners laid out the 
road, defined and established its boundaries by stone monuments 
set at the termini and angles, and made the same a matter of 
record. [Yol. 8, p. 289.] It was accompanied with an accurate 
plan. [No. 803.] A new plan was made in 1884, delineating the 
true bounds of the road, which is on file at the Town Clerk’s office. 


BLUE HILL TURNPIKE, OR RANDOLPH TURNPIKE. 

This turnpike, extending from the junction of the highways 
now known as Adams street and Canton avenue in Milton, 
through the easterly section of the town, towards Randolph, 
was laid out in the years 1804 and 1805, the portion through 
lands of Mr. Jeffrey near the northerly terminus having been 
located in the year last named. 

Like most of the turnpike enterprises of that period the road 
had limited uses for travel. Its location was principally 
through ; wild land or woodlands, with a succession of heavy 
grades, long, steep hills and narrow viaducts, requiring frequent 
and expensive repairs. 

Having fallen into comparative disuse it was laid out as a 
highway, as will appear by the records in the clerk’s office, 
Dedham, in 1848. 

This location of the road was of unequal widths, and not 
defined at the termini and angles by permanent stone bounds, 
such as were subsequently required by statute provisions. At 



208 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


the March meeting of the- town in 1888, a committee was 
chosen to apply to the County Commissioners (with whom is 
the entire jurisdiction) to define the limits of the way by new 
location. Surveys have been had, and the accomplishment of 
the work has for several years awaited the final action of the 
County Commissioners. 

Since its location as a highway the grades have been greatly 
improved and the viaducts widened, under the direction of the 
surveyors of the highways of the town, and many commodious 
and expensive dwellings have been recently constructed at the 
northerly section of the way. 


ATHERTON STREET. 

In 1811, Atherton street, then called Union street, was laid 
out from Canton avenue [then Middle street] to Brush Hill street, 
“From Jedediah Atherton’s strait to the turnpike, and from 
the turnpike strait to Oliver Houghtons.”' It cost $750, $300 
of which was paid by the town, and $450 by sundry subscribers. 

Centre street was laid out by the Court of Sessions in 1822, 
and was finished in 1824. 


Mattapan street was built 

in 1840-1, 

cost . 

. $1,058 

75 

Harland street “ 

1847-8, 

“ . 

. 1,800 

00 

School street 1 “ 

1848, 

“ . 

500 

00 

air mount avenue “ 

1857, 

“ . 

865 

25 

Central avenue “ 

1874, 

“ . 

. 3,276 

84 

Williams avenue “ 

1875, 

“ . 

. 2,506 

00 

Central-avenue bridge “ 

1877, 

“ . 

. 3,600 

00 

Thacher street “ 

1877, 

“ . 

. 3,955 

70 

Hemenway street “ 

1877, 

“ . 

. in part 658 

84 

Clapp street “ 

1878, 

“ . 

612 

27 

Central-ave. extension “ 

1880, 

“ . 

. 1,030 

00 

j Eliot street “ 

1882-3, 

“ . 

. 11,500 

00 

Reedsdale street “ 

1884, 

“ . 

. 6,399 

32 


1 Mr. John M.,Forbes built School street, and set out the elms shading the same in 1847-8. 
The whole tract on each side of School street, from the Russell estate on the east to the 
Swift land on the west, was purchased by Mr. Forbes Auu\, 1842, at. the auction of .Dr. 
Holbrook’s estate, except about half an acre belonging to John McQuirk, who lived in a 
stone house then standing on land now owned by Mr. Nathan Godfrey, corner of School 
street and Randolph avenue, where the well is now seen. 

Mr. Forbes also secured this tract of Mr. McQuirk, and conveyed to him and his 
wife Sarah, in her right, Feb. 24,1844, a tract of thirty-five acres, situated on Highland 
street, which he purchased of John J. Low, and at the Administrator’s sale of the estate 
of Jazaniah R. Ford, in 1840. Through this land School street was laid out. The North 
school-house lot was conveyed to the town of Milton by Mr. Forbes, in exchange for the 
lot on Milton Hill, on which stood the school-house, burned Nov. 23, 1846. The heirs of 
Abel Allyne, who gave the yiilton Hill lot to the town, joined in the conveyance of the 
same to Mr. Forbes. 







RAILROADS. 


209 


RAILROADS. 

In early times connection with. Boston was by private con¬ 
veyance or by tbe public stage. In 1847 tbe Dorchester and 
Milton Branch of the Old Colony Railroad was constructed, 
with stations at Milton Lower Mills and Mattapan. 

At a later date the East Milton and West Quincy Branch of 
the Old Colony Railroad was built, with a station at East Milton. 

The westerly part of the town and Brush Hill have railroad 
accommodations on the New York & New England, and Provi¬ 
dence roads at Mattapan, Hyde Park, and Readville. Thus the 
villages at the northerly and easterly extremities of the town 
are well supplied with railroad facilities, and the westerly part 
fairly so ; while the central and southerly sections are remote 
from any railroad station. 


REPAIRS OF HIGHWAYS. 

It appears by the records that, from the very beginning, and 
for one hundred and fifty years, the highways were kept in order 
by the direct labor of the citizens. The various neighborhoods 
took in charge the roads within their own limits, and each man 
above the age of sixteen years worked a definite time under the 
direction of surveyors appointed by the town. This plan was 
continued with more or less changes until about 1834. 

April 4, 1810—Voted that the work on the highways be apportioned 
on the polls and estates as it was lastyear—namely that each Poll be assessed 
one day, and estate in the same proportion, that a Poll be allowed one 
dollar and fifty cents — a sufficient team two dollars and twenty five cents 
per day—that each Surveyor cause the stones to be picked up within the 
limits of the last week in every month from April to November — and that 
three fourths of the work be done by the last of July, the remainder by the 
last of November next. 

It will be seen by the above that our predecessors seventy- 
five years ago had in mind several points of good road-building, 
viz.: fair pay for labor; stone-picking all over town eight times 
a year; and the bulk of the work done early, in season to be¬ 
come compact and solid before winter. This was their policy 
before and after the time here designated. 

CHANGE OF PLAN. 

March 8, 1834. A large committee of the Town recommended a de¬ 
cided change in taking care of the poor. To employ a superintendent, and 
have the able bodied paupers work on the l’oads. 




210 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


This plan was adopted. The Poor Department and Road 
Department were combined, and the Selectmen, who were 
Overseers of the Poor, were also Surveyors of Highways. 
The teams and implements for road-work were kept at the 
poorhouse, — one superintendent taking charge of both depart¬ 
ments ; if there was lack of help among the inmates, additional 
men were hired, and kept at the poorhouse. In this manner 
the roads were repaired for thirty-seven years. 

SUPERINTENDENT OF HIGHWAYS. 

In 1872 Samuel Cook was appointed superintendent of the 
roads, with entire charge of this important work. He con¬ 
tinued in this office, with much success, for six years. The 
selectmen took charge of the work in 1878 as surveyors of the 
highways. In 1879 S. L. Tucker was appointed to this trust. 

COMMISSIONERS OF HIGHWAYS. 

In 1880 Oliver W. Peabody, George K. Gannett, and John 
Littlefield were elected by the town road commissioners. 
Under the charge of commissioners the roads continued until 
March, 1887. 

The treatment of the question of roads on the part of the 
town has been both wise and liberal. Believing that good 
roads were needful for the prosperity and reputation of the 
town, they have wisely sought to entrust the care of them to, 
those who have given to the subject time and study and much 
consideration, and then have furnished abundant means to 
carry out their plans. The town’s appropriation for the repair 
of highways for the year 1881 was 115,000; for 1882, $18,500, 
repairs and construction ; for 1883, $15,000. 

By careful observation of the management of the roads since 
the town has placed them in charge of special boards it has 
been possible to learn their working policy. It would 'seem to 
be as follows : — 

First. Thorough treatment of wet and springy ground. 

Second. Thin coatings of crushed stone or screened gravel 
for ruts and. low places, applied in short spaces, and worked 
down by sprinkler and roller. 

Third. Reduction of steep acclivities and filling up of valleys 
in the roadway. 

RESULTS. 

The results of the great care and expenditure on our roads 
cannot fail to be manifest to all. Many places that from the 








































REPAIRS OF HIGHWAYS. 


211 


first existence of the town have been wet and springy, at times 
almost impassable, are now hard and dry through the whole of 
the season. 

It is not asserted or intimated that our roads are perfect; 
often there are portions of the highways that seem greatly in 
need of repairs. It is, however, unreasonable to expect that 
the long line of public ways in the town, now not much less 
than forty miles in length, can be everywhere, and equally, 
good through the whole season; and not less unreasonable to 
expect that the best-made sections of road, subject to constant 
and heavy travel, will continue smooth, solid, and dry, without 
attention. 

It is only claimed that the system of working the roads 
adopted by the officers of the town is in the right direction, 
and, in the end, will secure as good roads as can be built. 

The purchase by the town of a steam stone-crusher has en¬ 
abled the commissioners to apply to the roads the best system 
of road structure. Some of these sections of new-made road, 
built by them, have been constructed on the “MeAdam process” 
which consists in forming a road crust by layers of small angular 
stones, as they come from the crusher, with but little regard to 
the foundation or substratum of the road. 

Other sections are, in part, on the “ Telford system ,” where 
the foundation is the main point. This consists of a pavement 
of large rough stones, laid by hand, with their bases down and 
their points upward; these are filled in with smaller angular 
stones, carefully packed, and the whole is covered with three or 
four inches of still finer stone. The road-bed is thoroughly 
drained. River street in Dorchester is made on this plan, and 
sections on Canton and Randolph avenues, Milton. Both of 
these roads, when consolidated, form a hard, smooth, and dur¬ 
able surface. Thus, by the wisdom and liberality of the town, 
we are being furnished with roads which are, and will be, a 
comfort to ourselves, and a pleasure to our friends from other 
towns whom we welcome to these pleasant drives. 

“ There is no expedient which more powerfully conduces to the 
advancement of a people in civilization , or to the extension of their 
prosperity and national wealth , than the construction of good roads 
connecting the various centres of commerce and of industry about 
which they may have collected themselves. 

“ Roads , in fact , may be considered as a system of veins and 
arteries by which all those principles necessary for the maintenance 
of the prosperity of a country are kept in circulation.” 




212 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


CHAPTER Yin. 


TAX-LISTS AND TOWN OFFICERS. 


F OR the purpose of bringing before the town the names of 
the earliest inhabitants, and showing their financial con¬ 
dition, and the changes which have taken place in the lapse of 
years, we have here reproduced the first tax-list found in the 
records of 1679, with the tax-payers, and the sums paid by each. 
Then follows an exact copy of the taxes and tax-payers of the 
year 1700; a list of the tax-payers of 1750, and the sum raised 
by the town for that year; with a similar list and a like state¬ 
ment of money raised for the year 1800. The statements for 
later years will show how the town has risen from poverty to a 
degree of affluence ranking it, in valuation, among the highest 
of the Commonwealth, taking in view the number of inhabitants. 

Thus may be traced down, from the beginning, the changes 
in men and things; the passing out of sight of familiar names, 
and the advent of new men as generation after generation comes 
upon the stage of life, and then disappears, and the slow but 
positive growth into a condition of substantial prosperity. 

The Town Rate made for the year 1679, and here copied, was 
for the sum of sixteen pounds. Another rate was ordered for 
the same year, as follows: — 

At a public Town Meeting the 3: 12: 1678. it was legally voted that 
there should be a Rate made in the Town of Milton, levied upon the inhabi¬ 
tants, of thirty pounds for the us of M r Samuel Man; which is and'may be 
helpful to us in the us of the Ministry, and the Select-men were to make the 
rate; and also it was voted that Mr. man should have one third part of his 
pay in mony, or as mony. 


FIRST RECORDED TAX-LIST OF MILTOX. 


A Rate made the 13 th . 12 m . 1678 in the Town of Milton to pay the Town 
debts as followeth: viz. 


Henry Crane 
Samuel Golifer 
Anthony Golifer 


£ s. D. 

00-12-06 I Thomas Holman 
00-06-06 John Kinsley 
00-19-03 | William Denison 


£ 8 . D. 
00-13-04 
00 - 11-00 
00-10-09 


TAX-LISTS AND 

TOWN OFFICERS. 

213 


£ s. D. 


£ s. D. 

Anthony Newton 

00-02-09 

Georg Lion 

00-03-08 

John Daniel 

00-08-05 

Edward Black 

00-04-08 

Thomas Swift 

00-07-07 

Joseph Tucker 

00 -01-00 

Nath. Picher 

00-04-00 

Samuel Picher 

00-03-00 

Joseph Belchers Estate 

00-09-02 

John Fenno 

00-04-05 

John Williston 

00 -02-01 

Timothy Wals 

00-01-06 

Widdow Saulsbury 

00-02-07 

Teag Crehore 

00 -02-10 

Walter Mory 

00 -02-02 

Beniamin Badcock 

00-05-05 

Daniel Hinsher 

00-03-08 

T. Clement’s Meddow 

00-00-06 

Thomas Yose 

00-07-01 

Nnahmiah Hayden 

00 -00-10 

Steven Langley 

00-01-07 

W illiam Pen 

00-00-08 

Edward Yose 

00-16-04 

Caleb Hobard 

00-01-03 

Widdow Gill 

00-16-02 

William Pherry 

00-00-08 

John Kerny 

00 -01-10 

Thofild Curtis 

00-00-03 

Thomas Horten 

00 -01-02 

Martin Sanders 

00-00-08 

Ephraim Newton 

00 -01-10 

Edward Thomson 

00-01-07 

Widdow AYadsworth 

00-03-01 

William Owen 

00-00-05 

John Jordon 

00 -10-11 

Richard Colicot 

00-00-05 

Widdow Badcock 

00-05-09 

Thomas Garner 

00-01-03 

The Corn Mill 

00-08-10 

Simon Lins 

00 -02-00 

Richard Smith 

00-01-08 

Thomas Tolman 

00 -00-10 

Umphre Tifiny 

00-02-08 

Joseph Wild 

00 -01-00 

Robert Badcock 

00-06-02 

Thomas Williams 

00 -01-00 

Jonathan Badcock 

00-05-09 

Return Badcock 

00 -01-00 

Samuel Badcock 

00-03-04 

Eleazar Lelond 

00 -01-00 

Simon Peeke 

00-04-00 

Robert Mason 

00 -01-00 

John Dicke 

00-06-00 

Thomas Stevens 

00-00-06 

Robert Tucker 

00-08-03 

Sanslet Pearc 

00-00-06 

Georg Sumner 

William Blacke 

00-07-09 

00-05-11 

John Gosbery 

00 -01-00 



Ebenezer Clapp 

00-03-01 

Sixty Seven Signatures 

16 00 00 

James Tucker 

00-02-08 



A.D. 1700. 

The following tax-list, copied from the original records, repre¬ 
sents only the town tax of £27 10s. The same individuals 
were assessed for the year 1700 to pay the salary of Rev. Peter 
Thacher, £68; for the use of the Province £48, and for the use 
of the County of Suffolk £3 17s., making an aggregate of 
£147 7s. Od. 

In observance of the Treasurer’s warrant dated the seventh day of March 
1700. We the Selectmen of Milton on the 14 th day of May following the 
said date, made this part of assessment our Town’s proportion, being twenty 
seven pounds, this being the East end of the Town’s population as 
followeth: — 



Poles. 

Housing & 
Lauds. 

Stock & 
Faculty. 

Total. 

Henry Crane. . 

0 

0 2 0 

0 0 0 

00 02 07 
00 13 02 
00 00 07 

00 02 01 
00 07 00 
00 00 09 

00 04 08 
01 02 02 
00 01 04 

Samuel Gulliver. . . 

James Atherton. 
















214 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 



Poles. 

Housing & 
Lands. 

Stock & 
Faculty! 

Thomas Lincorne. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

00 

02 

00 00 05 

Jonathan Gulliver. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

13 

04 

00 07 08 

Thomas Holman. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

10 

06 

00 05 07 

Isaac Grose. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

02 

07 

00 00 05 

Joseph Hunt. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

02 

08 

00 00 07 

Enoch Hunt. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

02 

11 

00 00 09 

Thomas Horton..yr.. 

0 

4 

0 

00 

02 

06 

00 00 06 

Obedia Haws. . . . 

0 

2 

0 

00 

00 

00 

00 00 00 

Peter White. . 

0 

2 

0 

00 

05 

03 

00 01 11 

Nathaniel Badcock.. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

01 

09 

00 00 11 

John Kinsley & his Mother. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

06 

02 

00 02 03 

John Daniel. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

08 

00 

00 02 01 

Thomas Swift... 

0 

2 

0 

00 

05 

03 

00 06 02 

Nathaniel Pitcher. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

02 

08 

00 02 02 

William Badcock & his Mother. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

02 

05 

00 01 09 

Nathaniel Badcock. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

01 

09 

00 00 11 

Moses Belcher.. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

11 

06 

00 04 04 

Samuel Miller..... 

0 

2 

0 

00 

07 

06 

00 07 00 

John Redman.. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

01 

09 

00 00 07 

Richard Smith. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

00 

00 

00 00 07 

William Yose. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

01 

09 

00 00 07 

John Eenno . 

0 

2 

0 

00 

02 

00 

00 02 00 

Daniel Henshaw .. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

03 

06 

00 02 02 

Thomas Vose. 

0 

2 

0 

00 

04 

05 

00 02 00 

Thomas Vose Ju r ... 

o 

2 

o 





Thomas Holman Ju r . 

o 

2 

o 



Samuel Gulliver Ju r . 

o 

2 

o 


00 00 04 

David Horton. 

o 

2 

o 


Philip Liscom. 

o 

2 

o 



Samuel Webb for the Mills. 




00 

07 

07 


Henry Crane for Collins Meadow. 




00 

01 

06 


John Marsh. 




00 

03 

00 


Nathaniel Walse of Brantery . 


00 

01 

03 


Samuel Paine. 


00 

00 

05 


Samuel Bass. 




00 

00 

05 


Thomas Share. 




00 

00 

06 


Ebenezer Share... ..... .. 


00 

00 

02 


Solomon Vezey. 


00 

00 

10 


Theophilis Curtes. 


00 

00 

04 


John Rugles. 


00 

00 

09 


Dependance Erench. 




00 

00 

07 


John Erench. 




00 

00 

02 


Samuel French. 


00 

00 

02 


John Erench. 


00 

00 

02 


Widdow Joanah Badcock. 


00 

00 

06 

00 00 05 


Total. 


00 

02 

07 

02 

03 

00 

00 

18 

01 

00 

05 

00 

00 

05 

03 

00 

05 

08 

00 

07 

00 

00 

02 

00 

00 

09 

02 

00 

04 

08 

00 

12 

05 

00 

12 

01 

00 

13 

05 

00 

05 

09 

00 

06 

02 

00 

04 

08 

00 

17 

04 

00 

16 

06 

00 

04 

04 

00 

02 

07 

00 

04 

04 

00 

06 

00 

00 

07 

08 

00 

08 

05 

00 

02 

00 

00 

02 

00 

00 

02 

04 

00 

02 

00 

00 

02 

00 

00 

07 

07 

00 

01 

06 

00 

03 

00 

00 

01 

03 

00 

00 

05 

00 

00 

05 

00 

00 

06 

00 

00 

02 

00 

00 

10 

00 

00 

04 

00 

00 

09 

00 

00 

07 

00 

00 

02 

00 

00 

02 

00 

00 

02 

00 

00 

11 

12 

16 

08 


This rate committed to Constable 
John Redman to Colect 

Recorded this 18 day of May 1700 
by me Thomas Vose 
town Clark 


Thomas Swift, 
Thomas Yose, 
Thomas Holman, 
Samuel Gulliver. 


Selectmen. 














































































TAX-LISTS AND TOWN OFFICERS. 


215 


In observance of the Treasury warrant dated the twenty seventh day of 
March 1700 we the Selectmen of Milton on the 14 th day of May following 
the said date made this part of assessment our towns proportion being 
twenty seven pounds : this being the West End of the towns proportion as 
followeth: 



Poles. 

Housing 8s 
Lands. 

Stock and 
Faculty. 

Total. 

Edward Vose.. .... 

0 

2 

0 

00 13 02 

00 03 09 

00 18 11 

John Trot. 

0 

2 

0 

00 00 

11 

00 00 09 

00 03 08 

John Wadsworth & his Mother. 

0 

2 

0 

00 06 02 

00 02 08 

00 10 10 

Ebenezer Wadsworth..... 

0 

2 

0 

00 02 03 

00 01 

04 

00 05 07 

Nathaniel Gulliver. 

0 

2 

0 

.00 02 08 

00 01 

11 

00 06 07 

Walter Morey. 

0 

2 

0 

00 01 

09 

00 

01 

00 

00 04 09 

William Sumner.. 

0 

2 

0 

00 02 

08 

00 02 04 

00 07 00 

Joseph Houghton. 

0 

2 

0 

00 01 04 

00 

01 

06 

00 04 10 


0 

2 

0 






00 02 00 

Benjamin Eenno. 

0 

2 

0 

00 05 

03 

00 

02 

11 

00 10 02 

Henry Glover. 

0 

2 

0 

00 04 

11 

00 

01 

05 

00 08 04 

Henry Glover Ju r . 

0 

2 

0 

00 00 

11 

00 

00 

10 

00 03 09 

Ephraim Newton . ... . 

0 

2 

0 

00 04 

05 

00 

02 

11 

00 09 04 

Peter Lion. 

0 

2 

0 

00 00 

05 

00 

01 

11 

00 04 04 

Ebenezer Warren. . 

0 

2 

0 

00 00 

05 

00 

00 

06 

00 02 11 

Timothy Crehore. 

0 

2 

0 

00 05 

09 

00 

02 

04 

00 10 01 

Jonathan Wiat. 

0 

2 

0 







Nathaniel Wales. 

0 

2 

0 

00 04 

09 

00 

01 

07 

00 08 04 

Widdow Lion.. 

0 

0 

0 

00 00 

05 

00 

00 

05 

00 00 10 

James Tucker. 

0 

6 

0 

00 07 

06 

00 

02 

06 

00 16 00 

Ebenezer Clap.*. 

0 

4 

0 

00 04 

00 

00 

03 

09 

00 11 09 

William Blake... 

0 

0 

0 

00 02 

04 

00 

00 

09 

00 03 01 

Nathaniel and Edward Blake. 

0 

4 

0 

00 03 

06 

00 

01 

06 

00 09 00 

Lieut George Sumner. 

0 

4 

0 

00 08 

09 

00 

02 

01 

00 14 10 

George Sumner Ju r . . 

0 

2 

0 

00 01 

09 

00 

01 

09 

00 05 06 

Ephraim Tucker... 

0 

2 

0 

00 05 

03 

00 

02 

01 

00 09 04 

Manaseth Tucker. 

0 

2 

0 

00 05 

04 

00 

02 

01 

00 09 05 

Ebenezer Sumner & his Mother. 

0 

2 

0 

00 04 

06 

00 

01 

09 

00 08 03 

Samuel Triscot. 

0 

4 

0 

00 03 

06 

00 

02 

02 

00 08 08 

John Williston .. 

0 

4 

0 






00 04 00 

Henry Vose. 

0 

4 

0 

00 02 08 

00 01 

10 

00 08 06 

Ezra Clap.. 

0 

2 

0 

00 06 00 

00 04 

00 

00 12 00 

Jonathan Badcock. 

0 

4 

0 

00 03 

11 

00 02 

00 

00 09 11 

Widdow Hannah Badcock. . 

0 

2 

0 

00 06 01 

00 02 01 

00 10 02 

James Badcock 

o 

2 

o 






00 02 00 

Joseph Bent. 

0 

4 

0 

00 00 

11 

00 00 09 

00 05 08 

John Vose. 

0 

2 

0 

00 00 

11 

00 

01 

05 

00 04 04 

Nathaniel Vose. . 

o 

2 

o 






00 02 00 

William Bentley. 

o 

2 

o 


00 00 03 

00 02 03 

Thomas Tolmari. 

o 

0 

o 

on on no 




00 00 09 

Samuel Jones. 




00 00 

07 


00 00 07 

Bobert Field for Moses Medow. 




00 01 

06 




00 01 06 

Mathias PnfFer. 




00 00 

10 




00 00 10 

Stephen Crane.. 


00 00 

10 


00 00 10 






14 10 06 



































































216 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


This rate committed to 

Thomas Swift j 

Constable Samuel Triscot 

Thomas Holman | 

to Colect 

Thomas Vose V Selectmen. 

Samuel Gulliver 

Recorded this 18 th day of may 1700 by me 

Manaseth Tucker j 

Thomas Vose, 


Town Clark. 



This record shows 78 polls in 1700 and 92 tax-payers. 


A.D. 1750. 

Passing over a period of fifty years we give the names of one 
hundred and sixty-nine tax-payers, who, in 1750, appear on 
the stage as the active men of Milton, and the amount of the 
assessment for that year. 1 

These Rates made by the Assessors of Milton in November 1749 being 
each mans part and proportion To the Rovince Tax of 344-17-6 in Bills of 
the Last Tenor, and to the Town Tax of 152-6-4 in Bills of the Last Tenor 
and to the County Tax of 9-16-3 in Bills of the Last Tenor. 


Tax Payers at the West End of the Town. 


Samuel Clark, 

Elizabeth Kilpatrick, 
Benjamin Crane, 

Joseph Crane, 

Dea. Nathaniel Houghton, 


Ebenezer Houghton, 
Edward Crane, 

Mr. Isaac Billing, 
John Pitcher, 

John Daniel, 


Capt. Samuel Tucker & Son, 
Samuel Miller, Esqr., 
Jeremiah Tucker, 

Lieu 4 Samuel Wadsworth & 
Sons, 


1 The Tax of Milton, with Heps, pay, in 1759 was, in the whole, £512 “ 13 “ 7 L.M. 
The Tax of Milton, with Reps, pay, in 1760 was, in the whole, £484 “ 13 “ 7. 

The Tax of Milton, with Reps, pay (being £20), for 1761 was, in the whole, £398 
“ 2 “ 6. 


Estimate of the several articles in Milton by which the tax of the town was regulated, 
1761: — 


115 % 

54 ~ 
1 - 


439 
5^35 
1660 - 
460 
278 - 
196 


14 

„ 36 
£667 
£51:48 - 



1359 " 

42 


Dwelling Houses at £5 
Feet of Wharf 
Grist Mill 

Cow Pastures at 16/ 

Bushels of Grain at 8d 
Barrels Cider at 2/4 
Tons English hay at 18/ 
Ditto Fresh at 6/ 

Ditto Salt at 8/ 

Rents Received 
Servants for life at £3. 

Tuns Vessels at 4/ 

Stock in Trade at 6 ^ Ct. 
Money at Interest at 6 Ct 
Horses at 4/ 

Oxen at 4/ 

Cows at 3/ 

Sheep at 4d 
Hogs at 1/ 


577 “ 10 
— “5 
4 - 

35*“ 4 

187 “ 16 
193 “ 12 
4 I 4 “ - 

83“ 8 

78 “ 8 
477 “ 1 
42 “ - 
7 “ 4 
40“ - 
308 “ 17 
35 “ 16 
35 “ 4 
58“ 4 
22 “ 13 



“ 4 


“ 5 
“ 7 


£2919 “ 6 “ o 


A true copy Ex d . 


A. Belcher. 








TAX-LISTS AND TOWN OFFICERS. 


217 


Nathaniel Blake, Ju r ., 
Capt. John Gulliver, 
Anthony Gulliver, 
Samuel Keys, 

Wido. Hannah Gulliver, 
Ens. Simon Blake, 
Ebenezer Sumner, 
Jazaniah Sumner, 
William Tucker, 

Caleb Hearsey, 
Benjamin Horton, 
Benjamin Fenno, 

Joseph Bent, 

Thomas Vose, 

Samuel Glover, 

Justus Soper, 

John Newton, 

Thomas Swift, 

Elijah Crane, 

David Sumner, 

Joseph Billing & Son, 
John Lowran, 

Maj r Benjamin Eenno, 
Samuel Fenno, 

Stephen Davenport, 


Samuel Davenport, 

Dr. John Sprague, 
Samuel Crehore, 

Isaiah Crehore, 
Ebenezer Crehore, 

Dea. Timothy Crehore, 
Capt. John Crehore, 
Lieu. Robert Vose 
Robert Vose, Jun r , 
Ebenezer Tucker, 
Samuel Tucker, 

David Blake, 

James Tucker, 

Noah Damon, 

Moses Blake, 

Ebenezer Knight, 

Wido. Elizabeth Blake, 
Wido. Hannah Blake, 
Ens. Benjamin Sumner, 
Abijah Sumner, 

Daniel Sumner, 

William Sumner, 
Robert Field, 

Abijah Smith, 

John Bent, 


Lieu. Jazaniah Tucker, 
Seth Sumner, 

Mr James Smith, 

John Sumner, 

George Gault, 

Benjamin Gault, 

John Gault, 

John Patterson, 

Thomas Edwards, 

John Loughead, 

M r Edward Jackson, 
Stephen Harris Nailer, 
Robert Pope, 

John Trescot, 

Thomas Commings, 
Thomas Trott, 

Thomas Lyon, Jun r , 

Cap: John Robinson, 
Jonathan Davis, 

Moses Davis, 

Edward Capen, 

Ebenezer Jones, 

Daniel & Aquila Tolman, 
John Puffer, Junr. 


Eighty Eight Names 


These Rates wei’e committed to Mr. Samuel Tucker Constable to Collect. 

Samuel Wadsworth 
Stephen Davenport 
Jazaniah Tucker 

Assessors of Milton. 


These Rates made by y e Assessors of Milton in November 1749 being 
each mans Proportion to the Province, Town, and County Tax and being 
each mans part for the East End of the Town of Milton. 


Tax Payers in the East End of 


Pelatiah Rawson, 

Abijah Crane, 

Moses Hayden, 

Capt. Lamuel Kinsley, 
John Adams, 

Capt William Pirce & Son, 
David Rawson, 

William Cunningham, 

M r . Byfield Lyde, 
Jeremiah Phillips, 

Nathan Ford, 

Ebenezer Bent, 

Hannah Carshore, 

George Badcock, 

Ebenezer Scott, 

James Field, 

William Foy, Esqr, 
William Woodhouse, 

John Swift, 

Ebenezer Swift, 

Joseph Miller, 

Henry Crane, 

Charls Apthorp, Esqr, 
Joseph Gooch, Esqr, 

John Sherman, 


William Badcock, 

Benjamin Felton, 

Jeremiah Smith, 

William Nelson, 

Thomas Harris, 

Nathaniel Swift, 

Ebenezer Badcock, 

Edward Vose, 

Isaac How, 

John Vose, 

Jonah How, 

Samuel Henshaw & Son, 
David Vose, 

Jonathan Vose, 

Cap 1 Nathaniel Vose & Sons, 
Lieu. John Badcock, 
Nathaniel Abram, 

John Waterhair, 

Thomas White, 

David Coplan, 

Joseph Clap, 

^Nathaniel Shepard, 
Ebenezer Sumner, Junr, 
Thomas Pearl, 

Joseph Hunt, 


the Town. 

Edward Adams, 

Brinsmead Hunt, 

Nathan Badcock, 

David Horton & Joseph, 
David Horton, Junr, 

Enoch Horton, 

Philip White, 

Ebenezer Horton, 

John Marshall, 

Mr John Wadworth, 

Wido. Elizabeth Wadsworth, 
Benjamin Wadsworth, 

Seth Smith, 

Joseph Richard, Esqr., 
Stephen Winchester, 

Thomas Glover, 

Dr. Benjamin Steadman, 
Lieu. Benjamin Beal, 

Josiah French, 

Moses French, 

Hannah French, 

William Penniman, 

Dea. John Adams, 

Benjamin Ruggles, 

John Marsh & bretheren, 






218 " 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Josiah Capen, 
Thomas Spurr, 
Jonathan Coplan, 
Mary Dean, 


Capt James Draper, 
John Badcock. 

Eighty One Names. 


These Bates committed to 
M r Ebenezer Sumner, Junr, 
Constable to collect 


Samuel Wadsworth, l 

Stephen- Davenport, \ Assessors of Milton. 

Jazaniah Tucker, J 

These Bates were Eecorded by Benjamin Wadsworth, 

Town Cleric. 


A.D. 1800. 

Moving on through another half-century, we find a new list 
of agents engaged in meeting the duties and discharging the 
trusts of the town. The same family names appear, but instead 
of the fathers are the children. 

The amount raised by tax in 1800 was $1,500. 


The following lisi 
sixty-two tax-payers 

Abel Allyne, 

John Amory, 

Ditto Welles’ estate, 

Samuel Adams, 

John Adams, 

Moses Adams, 

John Adams, Jr., 

Minot Adams, 

Samuel Allyne, 

Benjamin Bronsdon, 

Lemuel Babcock, 

Hannah Babcock, 

Seth Baggs, 

Ditto Nathan Vose Estate, 
Ithamar Badcock, 

John Bent, 

Josiah Bent, 

Capt. Joseph Bent, 

John Bent, Jr., 

Shepard Bent, 

Thomas Baker, 

Parson Belcher, 

Moses Belcher, 

Ditto for Mrs Houghton’s 
Estate, 

Joseph Billings, 

Ziba Blake, 

James Blake, 

Ditto Bebecca Bawson’s 
Mai’sh, 

William Bowman, 

J. Smith Boise, 

Joseph Bodge, 

Stephen Bradley, 

Peter Brow, 

John B. Bronsdon, 

Daniel Briggs, 

Enos Blake, 

Benjamin Bowland, 

Lewis Babcock, 

George Clark, 


embraces the names 


Nathaniel Clark, 

William Childs, 

Ditto for Blacke’s Estate, 
Benjamin Bronsdon, Jr., 
Peter Blanchard, 

Thomas Crane, Esq., 

Henry Crane, 

Vose Crane, 

Seth Crane, 

Jesse Crane, 

Jeremiah Crane, 

Isaac Copeland, 

Ephraim Copeland, 

Samuel Carrawav, 

Benjamin Canady, 

Artemas Canady, 

Ebenezer W. C'alef, 

Ezra Coats, 

Asaph Churchill, 

Samuel Cabbot, 

Ditto for Joseph Babcock’s 
Estate, 

John Capen, 

Dea. John Crehore, 

John Crehore, Jun r , 
William Crehore, 

Benjamin Crehore, 

Ditto for Mrs. Mellus’House, 
John S. Crehore, 

Thomas Crehore, 

-Cook, 

Adam Davenport, 
Nathaniel Davenport, 
William Davenport, 

Isaac Davenport, 

Phinehas Davenport, 

John Dingley, 

Nathaniel Daniels, 

-Davis, 

Archibald McDonald, 
Isachar Everett, 


of two hundred and 


Jonathan Farrington, 
Benjamin Felt, 

Ditto for Mary Bawson’s 
land, 

Benjamin Felt, Jun r ., 

Mary Fenno, 

Elisha Field, 

Waitstill Foord, 

Jazaniah Foord, 

James Foord, 

Nathan Foord, 

Joseph Foord, 

Simon Ferry, 

Elizabeth Foye, 

Daniel French, 

Daniel French, Jun r ., 
Alexander French, 
Benjamin Field, 

John Gardiner, 

Nathaniel Gay, 

John Gay, 

Moses Gay, 

John Gibbons, 

Nathaniel Glover, 

Sarah Glover, 

Jacob Gill, 

Sam’l K. Glover, 

John Gulliver, 

Dea. Cornelius Gulliver, 
Lemuel Gulliver, 

Thomas Harling, 

Benjamin Henshaw, 

Judah Henry, 

William Hooker, 

Ditto Hunt’s house, 

Hannah Henshaw, 

Isaac Hunter, 

Dr. Amos Holbrook, 
Stephen Horton, 

Samuel Horton, 

Samuel Horton, Jun r ., 




TAX-LISTS AND TOWN OFFICERS. 


219 


Patience Horton, 

Asa Horton, 

Nathaniel Humphrey, 

Caleb Hubbard, 

Ditto for Babcock’s & 
Blake’s pasture, 

Widow Elizabeth Howe, 
Gideon & Elijah Hunt, 
Brinsmead Hunt, 

Abner Hunt, 

Silas Hunt, 

Samuel Hunt, 

Lemuel Hunt, 

Isaac Hunt, 

Ralph Houghton, 

Jason Houghton, 

Oliver Houghton, 

John Houghton, 

Nathaniel Jones, 

Ditto for Tucker house, 
Patrick Jeffrey, Esq., 

Uriah Johnson, 

Sarah Kneeland, 

Silas Kinney, 

Heirs of Hugh McLean, 
Samuel Leeds, 

John Little, 

Jacob Lyon, 

Barnabas Lathrop, 

Moses Lamb, 

John Marshal, 

Joseph May, 

Heirs of Mungo Maccay. 
Ditto for Briggs’ Estate,' 
Javan Morse, 

Ezra Morse, 

Calvin Marshal, 

Thaddeus Morton, 

Ditto part Dr. Glover’s Es¬ 
tate, 

Puller Mills, 

James Mitchel, 

-Nourse, 

Joseph Puffer, 

Lemuel Pratt, 

Charles Pierce, 

Ditto for Mrs Rowe’s Estate, 
Rufus Pierce, 

William Pierce, 
Bartholomew Pierce, 

John Pierce, 

Joel Pratt, 

Calvin Pratt, 

Aaron Proctor, 

Samuel Packard, Junr., 
Josiah Parker, 

Lemuel Pierce, 

Phinehas Paine, 

Solomon Parker, 

Ditto for Dea. Williams’ 
Estate, 

Nehemiah Perry, 


Rowland Powers, 

William F. Pinchbeck, 
Ditto part of Yose’s house, 
Joseph Pope, 

Ditto part of Daniel Yose’s 
Estate, 

Dyer Rawson, 

Ditto for Rebecca Rawson’s 
Marsh, 

James Raven, 

Edward H. Robbins, 

James Read, 

Noah Read, 

Benjamin Read, 

Thomas Read, 

Elisha Read, 

Josiah Reed, 

Elizabeth Rowe, 

John Ruggles, 

John Ruggles, Jun r ., 

John Sherman, 

Isaac Smith, 

Ditto for part of Vose’s 
house, 

Joseph Stimpson, 

John Sullivan, 

Sullivan & Bodge for Vose’s 
mill & Lillie’s house, 
Charles Stone, 

Minor Smith, 

-Smith, 

Henry Smith, 

Heirs of Lydia Sumner, 
Heirs of Enos Sumner, 

Seth Sumner, 

Ditto for Clark’s land, 
William Sumner, 

David Sumner, 

Sarah Sumner, 

Jabez Sumner, 

Marcy Sumner, 

Marcy Sumner, Junr., 

Jesse Sumner, 

Ditto for Vose’s house, 

John Swift, 

Samuel Swift, 

John Swift, Junr., 

Samuel K. Spurr, 

Peter Slone, 

Ditto for part of Vose’s Es¬ 
tate, 

Benjamin Sylvester, 

Ditto for Susannah Crane’s 
Estate, 

William & Thomas Taylor, 
Benja Thayer, 

George Talbut, 

Samuel Thompson, 

Ditto for part of Robbins’ 
Estate, 

Dr. Benjamin Turner, 
Catherine Tucker, 


William Tucker, 

Ebenezer Tucker, 

Elisha Tucker, 

Ditto for Pierce’s house, 
Timothy Tucker, 

Timothy Tucker, Jun r ., 
Amariah Tucker, 

George Tucker, 

James Tucker, 

Joseph Tucker, 

Jarat Tucker, 

Abel Tucker, 

Dea. David Tucker, 
Jeremiah Tucker, 

Isaac Tucker, 

Nathaniel Tucker, 

Samuel Tucker, 

Samuel Tucker, J. Copeland 
and D. French for Bil 
ling’s Estate, 

Daniel Vose, 

Daniel T. Vose, 

Joseph Vose, 

Elijah Vose, 

Ditto for Paine’s pasture, 
Benjamin Vose, 

Ditto for Dorchester pas¬ 
ture, 

Nathan Vose, 

Lewis Vose, 

Heirs of Patience Vose, ' 
Hannah Vose, 

Stephen Vose, 

Alexander Vose, 

Samuel Vose, 

Samuel Vose, Jun r ., 

Moses Vose, 

Lydia Vose, 

John White, 

Elijah Withington, 

-Winslow, 

Joseph Wadsworth, 
Benjamin Wadsworth, 
William Wadsworth, 

John Wadsworth, 

Joshua Ward, 

Arnold Welles, 

Ebenezer Williams, 

Ditto for Welles’ Estate, 
Zebediah Williams, 

Samuel Williams, 

Joseph Wild, 

Ditto for Houghton Estate, 
Elijah D. Wild, 

Ditto for part of Tucker 
bake-house & barn, 

John Young, 

4 f John Drew, 

J j Joseph Colton, 
isq ( Simeon Golden. 


Recorded by John Ruggles, 

Town Cleric. 


Sam’l K. Glover, 1 Assessors 
James Foord, ^ of 
Jason Houghton, J Milton. 








220 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


MOEE EECENT STATEMENTS. 

The financial condition and expenditures of the town for 
later years may be learned from the following statements : — 


1837. Total expenditures. $9,284 75 

1838. “ “ 5,559 64 

1839. “ “ 6,082 06 

1840. “ “ 4,923 72 

1845. “ “ 5,560 60 

1850. “ “ 6,982 88 

1855. “ “ 80,075 03 


1860. 

Value of real estate.$1,820,100 00 

Value of personal estate . . . . . . . 1,362,900 00 

Total valuation.$3,183,000 00 

Number of polls, 641; rate of taxation, $4.50 on $1,000. 

1870. 

Value of real estate.$2,020,100 00 

Value of personal estate . . . . . . . 2,105,800 00 

Total valuation ..$4,170,900 00 

Number of polls, 560 ; rate of taxation, $9 on $1,000. 

1880. 

Value of personal estate.$5,753,325 00 

Value of real estate. 3,515,400 00 

Total valuation.$9,268,725 00 

Number of polls, 810; rate of taxation, $6.50 on $1,000. 

1885. 

Valuation of personal estate.$8,166,100 00 

Valuation of real estate. 4,219,050 00 

Total valuation.$12,385,150 00 

Number of polls, 865 ; rate of taxation, $6 on $1,000. 


Interesting facts may be drawn from these bald statistics. It 
will be seen that, in the lapse of twenty-five years from 1860, 
while the increase in polls has been two hundred and twenty- 
four, giving an annual increase of nine, the increase in the tax¬ 
able property of the town has been $9,202,150, equal to an 
annual increase of $368,086. 

Other deductions, equally surprising, will follow a further 
examination of these figures. 


























PUBLIC OFFICERS. 


221 


PUBLIC OFFICERS. 

In the following pages appear the names of those who have 
filled the principal offices of trust through the whole history 
of the town. 

It will he of interest in these records to trace the succession 
of public officers and discover who were the leading men of the 
day; to note the changes of families, and the general progress 
of things as society advances. 

SELECT MEN OF MILTON", 1668-1887. 

1668. Sargent Babcock, Sargeant Blake, Thomas Swift. 

1669. Bobert Yose, Robert Tucker, Thomas Swift. 

1670. Sargent Babcock, Sarg Wadsworth, Anthony Golliver, Thoms Swift, 

Robert Tucker. 

1671. Robert Tucker, William Blake, Samuel Wadsworth, Thomas Swift, 

Anthony Golover. 

1672. Robert Tucker, William Blake, Samuel Wadsworth, Thomas Swift, 

Anthony Golover. 

1673. Anthony Gollifer, Samuel Wadsworth, Thomas Swift, Robert Badcock, 

Robert Tucker. 

1674. Samuel Wadsworth, Thomas Swift, Anthony Gollifer, Mr. Holman, Rob¬ 

ert Tucker. 

1675. Anthony Gollifer, Thomas Holman, Samuel Wadsworth, Thomas Swift, 

Robert Tucker. 

1676. Anthony Gollifer, Thomas Swift, Thomas Holman, Nathan Badcock, 

Robert Tucker. 

1677. Robert Yose, Robert Badcock, George Sumner, Thomas Yose, John 

Kingsley. 

1678. Thomas Swift, George Sumner, Anthony Gollifer, Edward Blake, Thomas 

Holman. 

1679. Robert Tucker, George Sumner, Thomas Swift, Henry Crane, Thomas 

Holman. 

1680. Robert Tucker, Thomas Swift, George Sumner, Henry Crane, Thomas 

Holman. 

1681. Henry Crane, Anthony Golifer, Thomas Swift, George Sumner, Thomas 

Holman. 

1682. Anthony Golifer, Thomas Swift, George Sumner, Thomas Holman, Ralph 

Houghton. 

1683. Anthony Golifer, Thomas Holman, Quartermaster Thom Swift, George 

Sumner, Ralph Houghton. 

1684. Anthony Golifer, Thomas Holman, Quartermaster Thom Swift, George 

Sumner, Ralph Houghton. 

1685. Thomas Swift, George Sumner, Thomas Yose, John Kinsley, Anthony 

Golifer. 

1686. Thomas Swift, George Sumner, Thomas Holman, Thomas Vose, John 

Kinsley. 

1687. Thomas Swift, George Sumner, Thomas Holman, Thomas Yose, John 

Kinsley. 

1688. Thomas Yose, Thomas Swift, George Sumner, Benjamin Badcock, Sam¬ 

uel Gullifer. 

1689. Thomas Yose, Thomas Swift, George Sumner, Benjamin Badcock, Sam¬ 

uel Gullifer. 


222 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


1690. Thomas Yose, Thomas Swift, George Sumner, Ebenezer Clap, William 

Blake. 

1691. Thomas Holman, Thomas Swift, Robert Badcock, George Sumner, Eb¬ 

enezer Clap. 

1692. Thomas Holman, Thomas Swift, Robert Badcock, George Sumner, Eb¬ 

enezer Clap. 

1693. Capt. Thomas Yose, George Sumner, Lieut. Thomas Swift, Ezra Clap, 

Ephriam Tucker. 

1694. Thomas Vose, Thomas Swift, Edward Vose, Ezra Clap, Thomas Holman. 

1695. Thomas Yose, Thomas Swift, Edward Yose, Ezra Clap, Thomas Holman. 

1696. Thomas Vose, Lieut. Thomas Swift, George Sumner, Senior, Ebenezer 

Clap, Ephriam Tucker. 

1697. Thomas Vose, Lieut. Thomas Swift, George Sumner, Senior, Ebenezer 

Clap, Ephriam Tucker. 

1698. Thomas Swift, George Sumner, S r , Ebenezer Clap, Ephriam Tucker, 

Jonathan Gulliver. 

1699. Dea. Thomas Swift, Lieut. George Sumner, Ensign Ebenezer Clap, Sarg. 

Ephriam Tucker, Jonathan Gulliver. 

1700. Thomas Swift, Thomas Vose, Thomas Holman, Samuel Gulliver, Man- 

asseh Tucker. 

1701. Thomas Vose, Thomas Swift, George Sumner, Ebenezer Clap, Manasseh 

Tucker. 

1702. Thomas Yose, Thomas Swift, George Sumner, Ebenezer Clap, Manasseh 

Tucker. 

1703. Thomas Swift, Thomas Yose, George Sumner, Ebenezer Clap, Thomas 

Holman. 

1704. Thomas Yose, George Sumner, Thomas Swift, Ephraim Tucker, Jonathan 

Gulliver. 

1705. Thomas Yose, Ebenezer Clap, Jonathan Gulliver, Manasseh Tucker, 

Dea. Thom Swift. 

4706. Thomas Vose, Deacon Thomas Swift, Jonathan Gulliver, Deacon George 
Sumner, Manasseh Tucker. 

1707. Thomas Vose, Deacon George Sumner, Lieut. Gulliver, Dea. Swift, 

Manasseh Tucker. 

1708. Voted to have three — Ephraim Tucker, Jonathan Gulliver, Manasseh 

Tucker. 

1709. Voted to have three — Ephraim Tucker, Jonathan Gulliver, Manasseh 

Tucker. 

1710. Voted to have three — Jonathan Gulliver, Ephraim Tucker, Ebenezer 

W adsworth. 

1711. Voted to have three — Jonathan Gulliver, Ephraim Tucker, Ebenezer 

Wadsworth. 

1712. Voted to have three — Jonathan Gulliver, Ephraim Tucker, Ebenezer 

Wadsworth. 

1713. Jonathan Gulliver, Ephraim Tucker, Henry Vose, Manasseh Tucker, 

Ebenezer Wadsworth. 

1714. Voted to have three—Ephraim Tucker, Jonathan Gulliver, Ebenezer 

Wadsworth. 

1715. Ephraim Tucker, Jonathan Gulliver, Samuel Miller, Henry Vose, Will¬ 

iam Sumner. 

1716. Ephraim Tucker, Jonathan Gulliver, Samuel Miller, Henry Vose, Will¬ 

iam Sumner. 

1717. Voted to have three — Ephraim Tucker, John Daniel, Jonathan Gulliver. 

1718. Voted to have three — Ephraim Tucker, John Daniel, Jonathan Gulliver. 

1719. Ephraim Tucker, John Wadsworth, Jonathan Gulliver, Manasseh Tucker, 

Benjamin Eenno. 

1720. Ephraim Tucker, John Wadsworth, Jonathan Gulliver, Manasseh Tucker, 

Benjamin Eenno. 

1721. John Wadsworth, Benjamin Eenno, Thomas Vose, Samuel Wadsworth, 

Edward Blake. 


PUBLIC OFFICERS. 


223 


1722. John Wadsworth, Benjamin Fenno, Thomas Vose, Samuel Wadsworth, 

Edward Blake. 

1723. John Wadsworth, Benjamin Fenno, Lieut. Henry Yose, Samuel Wads¬ 

worth, Edward Blake. 

1724. John Wadsworth, Benjamin Fenno, Lieut. Henry Yose, Samuel Wads¬ 

worth, Edward Blake. 

1725. John Wadsworth, Samuel Wadsworth, Ephraim Tucker, Jonathan Gulli¬ 

ver, John Daniel. 

1726. John Wadsworth, Samuel Wadsworth, John Daniel, George Sumner, 

Samuel Swift. 

1727. John Wadsworth, Samuel Wadsworth, John Daniel, George Sumner, 

Samuel Swift. 

1728. John Wadsworth, Ephraim Tucker, Samuel Wadsworth, Jonathan Gulli¬ 

ver, Samuel Swift. 

1729. Jonathan Gulliver, Ephraim Tucker, John Wadsworth, John Daniel, 

George Sumner. 

1730. John Wadsworth, John Daniel, Samuel Miller, Jr., Edward Glover, Peres 

Bradford. 

1731. John Wadsworth, George Babcock, Benjamin Sumner, Edward Glover, 

Peres Bradford. 

1732. John Daniel, Benjamin Sumner, Edward Glover, George Babcock, Peres 

Bradford. 

1733. John Wadsworth, John Daniel, Edward Glover, Benjamin Sumner, Eph¬ 

raim Tucker, Jr. 

1734. Major Samuel Miller, Samuel Kinsley, Joseph Belcher, Samuel Tucker, 

Nehemiah Clap. 

1735. Major Samuel Swift, Major Samuel Miller, Nehemiah Clap, Edward 

Glover, Benjamin Sumner. 

1736. Major Samuel Swift, Major Samuel Miller, Nehemiah Clap, Edward 

Glover, Benjamin Sumner. 

1737. Major Samuel Swift, Lieut. Samuel Kinsley, Samuel Tucker, Nehemiah 

Clap, Benjamin Sumner. 

1738. Colonel Swift, Col. Miller, Nehemiah Clap, Ephraim Tucker, Edward 

Glover. 

1739. Col. Swift, Col. Miller, Nehemiah Clap, Ephraim Tucker, Benjamin 

Sumner. 

1740. Col. Swift, Benjamin Sumner, Col. Miller, Nehemiah Clap, Ephraim 

Tucker. 

1741. Benjamin Sumner, Nehemiah Clap, Ephraim Tucker, Capt. William 

Pierce, Mr. Joseph Bent. 

1742. Samuel Miller, Esq., Samuel Swift, Esq., Nehemiah Clap, Benjamin 

Sumner, Ebenezer Tucker. 

1743. Samuel Swift, Esq., Samuel Miller, Esq., Nehemiah Clap, Ephraim 

Tucker, Nathaniel Houghton. 

1744. Samuel Swift, Esq., Samuel Miller, Esq., Ephraim Tucker, Benjamin 

Sumner, Dea. Nath. Houghton. 

1745. Yoted to have three — Samuel Miller, Samuel Swift, Ephraim Tucker. 

1746. Samuel Miller, Samuel Swift, Benjamin Sumner, Benjamin Wadsworth, 

Dea. Nath. Houghton. 

1747. Benjamin Wadsworth, Benjamin Fenno, Samuel Swift, Samuel Miller, 

Dea. Nathaniel Houghton. 

1748. Samuel Miller, Major Benjamin Fenno, Benj. Sumner, Jazaniah Tucker, 

Benj. Wadsworth. 

1749. Lieut. Sam 1 Wadsworth, Stephen Davenport, Coll. Samuel Tucker, 

Lieut. Jazaniah Tucker, Benj. Wadsworth. 

1750. Lieut. Sami. Wadsworth, Samuel Miller, Ensign Benj. Sumner, Lieut. 

Benj. Wadsworth, Lieut. John Badcock. 

1751. Lieut. Sami. Wadsworth, Sami. Miller, Benjamin Wadsworth, Benj. 

Sumner, John Adams. 


224 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


1752. Yoted to have three — Deacon Nathaniel Houghton, Benjamin Wads¬ 

worth, Dea. Timothy Crehore. 

1753. Voted to have three — Benjamin Wadsworth, Dea. Nathaniel Houghton, 

William Tucker. 

1754. Yoted to have three —Benjamin Wadsworth, Dea. Nathaniel Houghton, 

William Tucker. 

1755. Lieut. Jazaniah Tucker, Seth Sumner, David Rawson, Benjamin Crane, 

W m . Tucker. 

1756. Lieut. Jazaniah Tucker, Benj. Wadsworth, John Adams, Jeremiah 

Tucker, W m . Tucker. 

1757. Benj. Wadsworth, Benj. Eenno, W m . Tucker, David Rawson, Jeremiah 

Tucker. 

1758. Stephen Davenport, Capt. Thomas Vose, W m . Badcock, Josiah How, 

Lieu*. Enoch Horton. 

1759. Benjamin Wadsworth, Jr., W m . Tucker, Stephen Davenport, Jr., Josiah 

How, Dea. Nat. Houghton. 

1760. Samuel Miller, Esq., Dea. Nat. Houghton, Stephen Davenport, Josiah 

How, Lieu*. Jeremiah Tucker. 

1761. Dea. Nathaniel Houghton, Benjamin Wadsworth, Stephen Davenport, 

Josiah How, Dea. W m . Tucker. 

1762. Edward Hutchinson, Benj. Wadsworth, Stephen Davenport, Stephen 

Miller, Josiah How. 

1763. Dea. W m . Tucker, Lieut. Jazaniah Tucker, Stephen Davenport, William 

Badcock, Stephen Clap. 

1764. Dea. Wadsworth, Stephen Miller, Isaac How, Capt. Jeremiah Tucker, 

Samuel Davenport. 

1765. Dea. Wadsworth, Stephen Miller, Dea. W m . Tucker, Josiah How, Sam¬ 

uel Davenport. 

1766. Dea. Benj. Wadsworth, W m . Tucker, Stephen Miller, Josiah How, Lieut. 

Sami. Davenport. 

1767. Dea. Benj". Wadsworth, W ra . Tucker, Stephen Miller, Josiah How, Lieut. 

Sami. Davenport. 

1768. Stephen Miller, Ebenezer Tucker, John Adams, Isaac How, Stephen 

Davenport. 

1769. Stephen Miller, Stephen Davenport, Ebenezer Tucker, John Adams, 

Isaac How. 

1770. Josiah How, Dea. Tucker, Capt. Jeremiah Tucker, Capt. Lemuel Bent, 

Nathan Babcock. 

1771. JosiahHow, Dea. Tucker, Joseph Clap, Amariah Blake, Joseph Houghton. 

1772. Dea. Josiah How, Lemuel Bent, Nathan Babcock, Ebenezer Tucker, 

Samuel Davenport. 

1773. Stephen Miller, Amariah Blake, Dea. Joseph Clap, Joseph Tucker, Sam¬ 

uel Davenport. 

1774. Ebenezer Tucker, Nathan Babcock, Amariah Blake, Capt. Samuel Dav¬ 

enport, Oliver Vose. 

1775. Capt. Ebenezer Tucker, Amariah Blake, Oliver Vose, Ralph Houghton, 

William Pierce. 

1776. Capt. Ebenezer Tucker, Amariah Blake, Mr. Ralph Houghton, Dea. 

Joseph Clapp, William Pierce. 

1777. Capt. Ebenezer Tucker, Amariah Blake, Mr. Ralph Houghton, Dea. 

Joseph Clapp, William Badcock. 

1778. Amariah Blake, Capt. Ebenezer Tucker, Dea. Joseph Clap, Ralph Hough¬ 

ton, Capt. William Badcock. 

1779. Samuel Henshaw, Seth Turner & William Tucker. 

1780. Amariah Blake, Deacon William Tucker & Mr. Ralph Houghton. 

1781. Amariah Blake, Dea. William Tucker, Mr. Ralph Houghton, Capt. Will¬ 

iam Badcock, Dea. Ebenezer Tucker. 

1782. Amariah Blake, Deacon Josiah How, Seth Turner, Esq. 

1783. Amariah Blake, Deacon Josiah How, Seth Turner, Esq. 




PUBLIC OFFICERS. 


225 


1784. Capt. William Badcoek, M r William Davenport, M r John Ruggles. 

1785. Amariah Blake, Dr. Samuel K. Glover, Capt. David Tucker. 

1786. Capt. William Badcock, Col. Josiah Hayden, Capt. David Tucker. 

1787. Capt. William Badcock, Seth Sumner, Esq., Capt. David Tucker. 

1788. Capt. William Badcock, Seth Sumner, Esq., Capt. David Tucker. 

1789. Capt. William Badcock, Seth Sumner, Esq., Capt. David Tucker. 

1790. Capt. William Badcock, Seth Sumner, Esq., Capt. David Tucker. 

1791. Capt. William Badcock, Seth Sumner, Esq., Capt. David Tucker. 

1792. Capt. William Badcock, Seth Sumner, Esq., Capt. David Tucker. 

1793. Capt. William Badcock, Seth Sumner, Esq., Capt. David Tucker. 

1794. Capt. William Badcock, Seth Sumner, Esq., Capt. David Tucker. 

1795. Samuel K. Glover, James Eoord, Joseph Billings, Jason Houghton, Col. 

Elijah Yose. 

1796. Samuel K. Glover, James Foord, Joseph Billings, Jason Houghton, Col. 

Elijah Yose. 

1797. Samuel K. Glover, James Foord, Jason Houghton. 

1798. Samuel K. Glover, James Foord, Jason Houghton. 

1799. Samuel K. Glover, James Foord, Jason Houghton. 

1800. Samuel K. Glover, James Foord, Jason Houghton. 

1801. Samuel K. Glover, James Foord, Jason Houghton. 

1802. Samuel K. Glover, James Foord, Jason Houghton. 

1803. Samuel K. Glover, James Foord, Jason Houghton. 

1804. Deacon David Tucker, Capt. William Pierce, M r Oliver Houghton. 

1805. Capt. David Tucker, Capt. William Pierce, John Ruggles, Jun r . 

1806. Capt. David Tucker, Capt. William Pierce, John Ruggles, Jun r . 

1807. Capt. David Tucker, Capt. William Pierce, John Ruggles, Jun r . 

1808. Capt. David Tucker, Capt. William Pierce, John Ruggles, Jun r . 

1809. Capt. David Tucker, Capt. William-Pierce, John Ruggles, Jun r . 

1810. Capt. William Pierce, M r . John Ruggles, Jr., Capt. Jazaniah Foord. 

1811. John Ruggles, Jun r ., Jazaniah Foord, Dr. Samuel K. Glover. 

1812. John Ruggles, Jun r ., Jazaniah Foord, Dr. Samuel K. Glover. 

1813. John Ruggles, Jun r ., Jazaniah Foord, Dr. Samuel K. Glover. 

1814. John Ruggles, Jun r ., Jazaniah Foord, Dr. Samuel K. Glover. 

1815. John Ruggles, Jun r ., Jazaniah Foord, Dr. Samuel K. Glover. 

1816. John Ruggles, Jun r ., Jazaniah Foord, Dr. Samuel K. Glover. 

1817. John Ruggles, Junh, Jazaniah Foord, Dr. Samuel K. Glover. 

1818. John Ruggles, Jun r ., Jazaniah Foord, Dr. Samuel K. Glover. 

1819. John Ruggles, Jun., Jason Houghton, Samuel H. Babcock. 

1820. John Ruggles, Jun r ., Jason Houghton, Samuel K. Glover. 

1821. John Ruggles, Jun r ., Jason Houghton, Samuel K. Glover. 

1822. John Ruggles, Jun r ., Jason Houghton, Samuel K. Glover. 

1823. John Ruggles, Jun r ., Jason Houghton, Samuel K. Glover. 

1824. John Ruggles, Jason Houghton, Samuel K. Glover. 

1825. John Ruggles, Jason Houghton, Samuel K. Glover. 

1826. John Swift, Elijah Tucker, Jesse Tucker. 

1827. John Swift, Elijah Tucker, Jesse Tucker. 

1828. John Swift, Elijah Tucker, Jesse Tucker. 

1829. John Swift, Elijah Tucker, Jesse Tucker. 

1830. John Ruggles, James Campbell, Thomas Hunt. 

1831. John Ruggles, James Campbell, Thomas Hunt. 

1832. John Ruggles, James Campbell, Thomas Hunt. 

1833. John Ruggles, James Campbell, Thomas Hunt. 

1834. John Ruggles, Thomas Hunt, Henry G. Durell. 

1835. Henry G. Durell, Thomas Hunt, Ebenezer G. Tucker. 

1836. Henry G. Durell, Thomas Hunt, Ebenezer G. Tucker. 

1837. H. G. Durell, J. L. Pierce, C. Breck. 

1838. E. G. Tucker, C. Breck, T. T. Wadsworth. 

1839. E. G. Tucker, C. Breck, T. T. Wadsworth. 

1840. E. G. Tucker, C. Breck, T. T. Wadsworth. 

1841. C. Breck, T. T. Wadsworth, J. Young. 



226 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


1842. T. T. Wadsworth, Joseph Young, Ebenezer Pope. 

1848. Charles Breck, Ebenezer Pope, Timothy Tucker. 

1844. E. Pope, J. W. Houghton, James Breck. 

1845. E. Pope, J. W. Houghton, C. Tucker. 

1846. E. Pope, J. W. Houghton, C. Tucker. 

1847. Ebenezer Pope, Jason W. Houghton, Charles Tucker. 

1848. Ebenezer Pope, Jason W. Houghton, Charles Tucker. 

1849. Samuel Babcock, Charles Tucker, Samuel Cook. 

1850. Samuel Babcock, Timothy Tucker, Samuel Cook. 

1851. Samuel Babcock, Samuel Cook, Timothy Tucker. 

1852. Samuel Babcock, Samuel Cook, Timothy Tucker. 

1858. Samuel Cook, Timothy Tucker, E. P. Fenno. 

1854. Samuel Cook, Timothy Tucker, E. P. Fenno. 

1855. Samuel Babcock, Jesse Vose, J. Gould, E. P. Fenno. 

1856. Samuel Babcock, Jesse Yose, J. Gould. 

1857. Samuel Cook, Timothy Tucker, E. P. Fenno. 

1858. Samuel Cook, Timothy Tucker, E. P. Fenno. 

1859. Samuel Cook, Timothy Tucker, Geo. K. Gannett. 

1860. Samuel Cook, Timothy Tucker, Geo. K. Gannett. 

1861. Samuel Cook, Timothy Tucker, Geo. K. Gannett. 

1862. Geo. K. Gannett, C. L. Copeland, S. L. Tucker. 

1863. S. L. Tucker, James Breck, J. E. Webster. 

1864. S. L. Tucker, Samuel Cook, Amos Poole. 

1865. S. L. Tucker, Samuel Cook, John H. Burt. 

1866. Stillman L. Tucker, Samuel Cook, John H. Burt. 

1867. Stillman L. Tucker, Cotton C. Bradbury, John Sias. 

1868. Stillman L. Tucker, John Sias, Samuel Gannett. 

1869. Stillman L. Tucker, John Sias, T. Edwin Euggles. 

1870. Stillman L. Tucker, John Sias, T. Edwin Euggles. 

1871. Eobert M. Todd, Edwin D. Wadsworth, Sumner A. Burt. 

1872. Eobert M. Todd, Sumner A. Burt, John Tolman. 

1873. Samuel Babcock, Henry S. Bussell, T. Edwin Euggles. 

1874. Samuel Babcock, Henry S. Bussell, T. Edwin Euggles. 

1875. Samuel Babcock, Henry S. Bussell, T. Edwin Euggles. 

1876. Samuel Babcock, Henry S. Bussell, T. Edwin Euggles. 

1877. Samuel Babcock, Henry S. Bussell, T. Edwin Euggles. 

1878. Samuel Babcock, Henry S. Bussell, T. Edwin Euggles. 

1879. J. Walter Bradlee, John H. Burt, E. B. Andrews. 

1880. J. Walter Bradlee, John H. Burt, Otis S. Godfrey. 

1881. J. Walter Bradlee, John H. Burt, Otis S. Godfrey. 

1882. J. Walter Bradlee, John H. Burt, Otis S. Godfrey. 

1883. J. Walter Bradlee, John H. Burt, Otis S. Godfrey. 

1884. J. Walter Bradlee, John H. Burt, A. A. Brackett. 

1885. J. Walter Bradlee, A. A. Brackett, T. Edwin Euggles. 

1886. J. Walter Bradlee, A. A. Brackett, T. Edwin Euggles. 

1887. J. Walter Bradlee, A. A. Brackett, T. Edwin Euggles. 


TOWN CLEEKS, 1662-1887. 

The records of the town for eight years after incorporation 
are very imperfect; but, as the first entries are in the handwrit¬ 
ing of Robert Tucker, the presumption is that he was the first 
Town Recorder. 

The answer of the General Court to the petition for incor¬ 
poration bearing date of May 7, 1662, is recorded by “ Robert 
Tucker, Recorder of Milton.” 



PUBLIC OFFICERS. 


227 


Jan. 17, 1669-70. An exchange of land between Robert 
Badcock and John Fenno is entered on the records by “Robert 
Tucker, Recorder.” 

The first notice in our records of an appointment to this office 
is as follows : — 


At a Town Meeting the 10 th of March, 1670 71 , Thomas houlman was 
chosen to be the townes Clarke to have the Towne book and Record such 
Yots as the towne due from time to time legally pass. 


Recorded List. 


1670-71 Thomas Holman 
1673-1676 Robert Tucker 
1677 John Kinsley 

1678-1682 Thomas Holman 
1683 Ralph Houghton 

1684-1685 Thomas Holman 
1686-1688 John Kinsley 
1689-1690 Thomas Vose 
1691-1692 Ebenezer Clap 
1693-1708 Thomas Yose 
1709-1729 Ephraim Tucker 
1730-1734 John Daniel 
1743-1745 Nehemiah Clap 
1743-1745 Ephraim Tucker 


1745-1763 Benjamin Wadsworth 
1764-1765 Stephen Clap 
1766-1767 Elijah Wadsworth 
1768-1779 Amariah Blake 
1779 Samuel Henshaw 

1780-1785 Amariah Blake 
1786-1806 JohnRuggles 
1807-1813 James Eoord 
1814-1834 JohnRuggles, Jr. 
1835-1838 Nathan C. Martin 
1839-1842 Jason F. Kennedy 
1843-1873 Jason Reed 
1873-1887 Henry B. Martin 


TOWN TREASURERS, 1704-5 — 1887. 

The revenues of the town were collected by the Constables 
and disbursed by the Selectmen, for forty-three years after its 
corporate existence. 

March 19, 1704r-5. Jonathan Gulliver was chose Town Treasurer for 
the ensuing year. 

The records contain no further reference to Town Treasurer 
for the long period of twenty-eight years. 

March 12 th , 1733. M r . George Badcock was chose Town Treasurer. 

Dec. 20 th , 1733. It was put to vote to the Town whether they would 
reconsider the vote of the choice of Mr. George Badcock to be Town Treas¬ 
urer, he being in fir m and unable to serve in that office, and it passed in 
the affirmative. 

It was voted that the Selectmen succeed Mr. Badcock that was chosen 
Town Treasurer, and do the work his office obliged him to do. 

The records show no further action with regard to Town 
Treasurer until 1739. 



228 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Recorded List. 


1739-1743 

1743 

1744-1745 

1746 

1747 

1748-1768 

1768-1774 

1775 


Nehemiah Clap 
Ephraim Tucker 
Dea.Benjamin Wadsworth 
“Voted that there should 
he no Town Treasurer ” 
“ Voted that there should 
he no Town Treasurer ” 
Benjamin Wadsworth 
M r . Josiah How 
Amariah Blake 


1776-1781 William Tucker 
1782-1784 Josiah How 
1785-1820 John Buggies & John 
Buggies Jr. 

1821-1823 Jedediah Atherton 
1824-1834 Jesse Vose 
1835-1838 Isaac Gulliver 
1839-1857 Charles Breck 
1858-1873 Jason Beed 
1873-1887 Charles Breck 


COLLECTOBS, 1766-1887. 


In the year 1766 it was voted to choose Collectors; previous 
to this date the Constables had attended to this work. 


1767 

1768 

1769 

1770 

1771 

1772 

1773 

1774 

1775 

1776 

1777 

1778 

1779 

1780 
1781-84 

1785 

1786 

1787 

1788 
1789-90 
1791-92 
1793-94 

1795 

1796 
1797-98 
1799 


Recorded List. 


Mr James Boice 
“ James Boice 
“ Andrew Adams 
“ Nathan Badcock 
“ Joshua Vose 

“ Ziba Blake 
“ Jacob Copeland 
“ James Boies 
“ Samuel Henshaw 
Deacon Joseph Clapp 

Mr. Amariah Blake 
“ Bufus Pierce 
Dr. Enos Sumner 
Mr Samuel Swift & Capt. 

Ebenezer Williams 
Capt. Bartholomew Pierce & 
Capt. Ebenezer Williams 
Joseph Badcock Esq. 

Major Joseph Badcock 
Capt Bufus Pierce 
Mr. Joseph Tucker 
“ Oliver Houghton 
Asaph Churchill Esq 
Mr Joseph Tucker 
Col. Ebenezer Williams 
John Buggies Jr. 


1800-1 

Mr Samuel Swift 

1802-3 

“ Oliver Houghton 

1804 

“ Charles Stone 

1805 

Dr Benjamin Turner 

1806 

Mr Bowen Crehore 

1807-8 

“ Charles Stone 

1809 

“ Lemuel Pierce 

1810-11 

“ Isaac Gulliver 

1812 

Capt. Josiah Bent 

1813 

Mr Isaac Gulliver 

1814-15 

“ William Farwell 

1816 

“ BalphVose 

1817-18 

“ Nathaniel Davenport 

1819 

“ Samuel Marden 

1820-22 

Capt William Pierce 

1823-24 

Mr. Jesse Vose 

1825 

“ Nathaniel D. Turner 

1826-28 

“ Jason Houghton 

1829-31 

‘ ‘ Charles Tucker 

1832 

“ Edward Curtis 

1833-37 

“ Jason Houghton 

1838 

“ Seth Turner 

1839 

“ Ebenezer G. Tucker 

1840 

“ Seth Turner 

1841 

“ J. E. Clark 

1842-52 

“ Simeon Emerson 

1853-55 

“ John D. Bradlee 

1856-87 

“ Simeon Emerson 


MODEEATOBS, 1706-1887. 


The first reference to the presiding officer at Town Meetings 
appears in the records of the year 1706, when Jonathan Gul¬ 
liver is recorded as Moderator. No further mention is made of 





PUBLIC OFFICERS. 


229 


Moderator until 1714; at the three meetings of that year Lieut. 
Henry Vose, Deacon Thomas Swift, and Ebenezer Wadsworth 
are recorded as Moderators; from that date the record is com¬ 
plete to the present time. 


Recorded List. 


1715 

Henry Yose 

1716-17-18 

Jonathan Gulliver 

1719-20 

John Wadsworth 

1721 

John Wadsworth 

Lieut. Henry Vose 

1722 

Jonathan Gulliver 

Lieut. Henry Vose 

1723 

Lieut. Henry Vose 

1724 

Capt. Jonathan Gulliver 

1725 

Lieut. Henry Vose 

Capt. Jonathan Gulliver 

1726 

Lieut. Henry Vose 

1727 

Capt. Jonathan Gulliver 
Dea. Manasseh Tucker 

1728-29 

Capt. Jonathan Gulliver 

1730-31 

Dea. John Wadsworth 

1732 

Edward Glover 

1733 

Major Samuel Miller 

1734-39 

Major Samuel Swift 

1740 

Benjamin Sumner 

1741 

Nehemiah Clapp 

1742-44 

Major Samuel Swift 

1745 

Samuel Miller 

1746-47 

Samuel Swift 

1748-49 

Samuel Miller 

1750 

Dea. Nathaniel Houghton 
Samuel Miller 

Oxenbridge Thacher 

1751 

Samuel Miller 

1752 

Joseph Gooch 

Samuel Miller 

Dea. Nathaniel Houghton 

1753 

Joseph Bent 

Samuel Miller 

1754 

Lieut., Samuel Wads- 


worth 

Joseph Bent 

Capt. Samuel Tucker 


1755 

Joseph Bent 

1756 

Joseph Gooch 

Samuel Miller 

1757 

Samuel Miller 

William Tucker 

1758 

Samuel Miller 

1759 

Samuel Miller 

Dea. Nathaniel Houghton 

1760 

Samuel Miller 

Dea. Nathaniel Houghton 

1761 

Dea. Nathaniel Houghton 


1762 

James Boies 

Andrew Belcher 

1763 

Capt. Joseph Rosson 

Dr. Samuel Gardner 

Dea. William Tucker 

1764 

Andrew Belcher 

1765 

Dea. Benjamin Wads¬ 
worth 

Dea. William Tucker 
Stephen Miller 

Samuel Davenport 

1766 

Dea. Benjamin Wads¬ 
worth 

Mr. Isaac How 

1767 

Stephen Miller 

Seth Sumner 

William Taylor 

1768 

Stephen Miller 

Capt. David Rawson 

1769-70 

Stephen Miller 

1771 

Stephen Miller 

Josiah How 

1772 

Dea. Josiah How 

1773 

Dea. Josiah How 

Stephen Miller 

1774 

Dea. Josiah How 
Ebenezer Tucker 

Capt. David Rawson 

Col. W m . Taylor 

1775 

Col. W m . Taylor 

1776 

David Rawson, Esq. 

Capt. Ebenezer Tucker 
Dea. Joseph Clapp 

Mr. Ralph Houghton 

1777 

Capt. Ebenezer Tucker 
Mr Ralph Houghton 

1778 1 

David Rawson, Esq. 

Mr. Ralph Houghton 
Capt. Ebenezer Tucker 
Capt Seth Turner 

Capt. James Boies 

1779 

Capt. James Boies 

David Rawson, Esq. 

1780 

Mr. Ralph Houghton 
Samuel Henshaw, Esq. 
Major Joseph Badcock 

1781 

Major Joseph Badcock 
Ralph Houghton 

David Rawson, Esq. 


There were nineteen town meetings in 1778. 




230 

HISTORY t 

1782 

Edward H. Robbins, Esq. 

1788-85 

Dea. Josiah How 

Edward H. Robbins 

1786 

Seth Sumner, Esq. 

Thomas Crane, Esq. 

Josiah Hayden Esq. 

Joseph Yose, Esq. 

1787 

Seth Sumner, Esq. 

Dr. Amos Holbrook 

Josiah Badcock, Esq. 

Capt. William Badcock 

1788 

Seth Sumner, Esq. 

Hon James Warren 
Thomas Crane, Esq. 

1789 

Capt. Wm. Badcock 

Seth Sumner 

1790 

Jeremiah Smith Boies 

Seth Sumner 

Mr John Swift 

Major Joseph Badcock 

1791 

Capt. Wm. Badcock 

Seth Sumner 

Thomas Crane, Esq. 
Edward II. Robbins 

1792 

Edward H. Robbins, Esq. 
Seth Sumner 

Capt. William Badcock 

1793 

Capt. W m . Badcock 

Col. Seth Sumner 

J. Smith Boies 

1794 

Edward II. Robbins, Esq. 
Col. Sumner 

Capt. W m . Badcock 

1795 

Edward H. Robbins, Esq. 
Mr. Asaph Churchill 

1796 

Edward H. Robbins, Esq. 

1797 

Edward II. Robbins Esq. 
Mr. John Swift 

Capt. William Badcock 

1798 

Seth Sumner Esq. 

Edward H. Robbins 

1799 

Edward H. Robbins Esq. 
Mr. James Foord 

1800-1 

Edward II. Robbins Esq. 

1802 

Capt. William Badcock 
Dr. Samuel K. Glover 

1803 

Capt. W m . Badcock 
Edward H. Robbins 

1804 

Mr. Henry M. Lisle 

Hon. Edward II. Robbins 
Dea. David Tucker 

1805 

Capt. Rufus Pierce 

Capt. W m . Badcock 

Dea. David Tucker 

1806 

Dea. David Tucker 

Henry M. Lisle Esq. 

1807 

Hon Edward H. Robbins 
Dea. David Tucker 

1808 

Hon Edward H. Robbins 


MILTON. 


1808 

Joseph Badcock 

John Ruggles Jr. 

Joseph Bent 

1809 

Major Joseph Bent 

Hon E. H. Robbins 

Col. Seth Sumner 

Jason Houghton 

1810 

Maj. Joseph Bent 

Hon. Edward H. Robbins 
Capt. William Pierce 

1811 

Mr. Oliver Houghton 

1812 

John Ruggles Jr. 

Dr. Samuel K. Glover 

1813 

John Ruggles Jr. 

Joseph Rowe Esq. 

Dr. Samuel K. Glover 

1814 

John Ruggles Jr. 

Maj. Joseph Bent 

Capt. Jazaniah Foord 

1815 

Hon Edward H. Robbins 
Capt. William Pierce 

1816 

Hon. E. H. Robbins 

Capt. Jazaniah Foord 

1817 

Hon. E. H. Robbins 

1818-19-20 

Hon. E. H. Robbins 

1820 

Maj. Jedediah Atherton 

1821 

Major Jedediah Atherton 

1822-23 

Deacon Jason Houghton 
Maj. Jedediah Atherton 

1824 

Hon. E. H. Robbins 

Dea. Jason Houghton 

1825 

Jason Houghton Esq. 

1826-27 

Jason Houghton Esq. 

Hon. E. H. Robbins 

1828 

Jason Houghton Esq. 
John Ruggles 

1829 

Jason Houghton Esq. 

Hon. E. H. Robbins 

1830 

Asaph Churchill Esq. 
Jason Houghton 

1831 

Asaph Churchill Esq. 
Alpheus T. French 

Jesse Tucker 

1832-34 

Asaph Churchill Esq. 

1835 

Asaph Churchill Esq. 
Jason Houghton 

1836 

John Ruggles 

Francis Davenport 

1837-39 

Hon. John Ruggles 

1840 

James M. Robbins 

David L. Cowell 

1841 

Thomas Hollis 

Hon. John Ruggles 

Jason Houghton 

1842 

George Thompson 

Hon. James M. Robbins 

1843 

George Thompson 

John Ruggles 

1844 

George Thompson 




PUBLIC OFFICERS. 


281 


1845 

George Thompson 

John Buggies 

1846 

Jason F. Kennedy 

George Thompson 

Josiah Fairbank 

1847 

George Thompson 

Jason F. Kennedy 

1848 

Elijah Tucker 

George Thompson 

James M. Bobbins 

Bobert B. Forbes 

1849 

George Thompson 

Josiah Fairbank 

1850 

George Thompson 

Josiah Fairbank 

Josiah Babcock 

1851 

George Thompson 

Charles Breck 

1852 

Joseph McKean Churchill 
Samuel Babcock 

1853 

George Thompson 

Samuel Babcock 

1854 

Joseph M. Churchill 

Josiah Fairbank 

1855 

Joseph M. Churchill 

1856 

Joseph M. Churchill 
Samuel Babcock 

1857 

Joseph M. Churchill 

Elijah Tucker 

1858 

Joseph M. Churchill 


1859 Joseph M. Churchill 
Edward L. Pierce 

1860 Samuel Babcock 

1861 Edward L. Pierce 
.Tames M. Bobbins 

1862 Joseph M. Churchill 

1863 Edward L. Pierce 
Samuel Babcock 
Joseph M. Churchill 

1864 Joseph M. Churchill 
James M. Bobbins 
Daniel Warren 

1865-68 Joseph M. Churchill 

1869 Joseph M. Churchill 
Samuel Babcock 

1870 Joseph M. Churchill 

1871 Joseph M. Churchill 
Philarman Buggies 

1872 Joseph M. Churchill 
Stillman L. Tucker 

1873-76 Joseph M. Churchill 1 

1877 Joseph M. Churchill 
Samuel Babcock 

1878 Joseph M. Churchill 

1879 Joseph M. Churchill 
Edwin I). Wadsworth 

1880-85 Joseph M. Churchill 

1886 Joseph M. Churchill 
Dr. John Littlefield 

1887 Dr. John Littlefield 


SCHOOL COMMITTEE, 1827-1887. 

School Committee was chosen for the first time March 12, 
1827 [or April 3, 1826]. 


Recorded List. 

1827. Gen. Moses Whitney, Bev. Samuel Gile, Lemuel Babcock, Jr., John 

Buggies, Jason Houghton. 

1828. Bev. Samuel Gile, Jason Houghton, Joseph Bowe, Esq. 

1829. Bev. Samuel Gile, Nathaniel Tucker, Joseph Bowe, Esq. 

1830. Bev. Samuel Gile, Nathan C. Martin, Jason Houghton. 

1831. Bev. Samuel Gile, Isaac Gulliver, Thomas Snow. 

1832. Bev. Samuel Gile, Charles B. Kennedy, Isaac Gulliver. 

1833. Bev. Samuel Gile, Moses Whitney, Nathan C. Martin, Charles B. Ken¬ 

nedy, Joseph Bowe, Elijah Tucker. 

1834. Bev. Samuel Gile, Nathan C. Martin, Charles K. Kennedy. 

1835. Bev. Benjamin Huntoon, Asaph Churchill, Sr., Charles B. Kennedy. 

1836. Bev. Benjamin Huntoon, Bev. Samuel Gile, Asaph Churchill, Jr. 

1837. Bev. Benjamin Huntoon, Samuel Adams, Asaph Churchill, Jr., Ariel 

Work, F. W. Davenport. 

1838. Bev. Samuel W. Cozzens, F. W. Davenport, Lewis Tucker, J. G. 

Belcher, David Kimball, Francis Skinner. 


1 In March, 1873 , the town passed a vote of thanks to the Hon. Joseph M. Churchill for 
the able and impartial manner in which he has for so many years performed the duties 
of moderator. 




232 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


1839. Rev. S. W. Cozzens, Rev. Joseph Angier, Rev. Joseph Banfield, Hon. 

John Ruggles, Dea. Jason Houghton. 

1840. Rev. S. W. Cozzens, Rev. Joseph Angier, Rev. Joseph Banfield, Jason 

F. Kennedy, Dana Tucker. 

1841. Rev. S. W. Cozzens, Rev. Joseph Angier, Rev. Joseph Banfield, Dr. 

Simeon Palmer, Hon. J. M. Robbins. 

1842. Rev. S. W. Cozzens, Rev. Joseph Angier, Rev. Joseph Banfield, Jere¬ 

miah Crehore, Octavius Rogers. 

1843. Jason F. Kennedy, Charles Breck, Josiah Babcock, Jr., Jason Thayer, 

Rev. Joseph Angier. 

1844. Rev. S. W. Cozzens, Rev. Joseph Angier, J. Babcock, Jr., J. F. Kennedy, 

Elijah Tucker. 

1845. Rev. S. W. Cozzens, Rev. Edward Otheman, Charles Breck, Josiah Fair- 

bank, J. Babcock, Jr. 

1846. Rev. S. W. Cozzens, Rev. Edward Otheman, S. Adams, R. M. Todd, J. 

Martin, L. Davenport, S. Cook. 

1847. Rev. S. W. Cozzens, Rev. J. H. Morison, Rev. W. Harding, A. J. 

Moshier, S. Adams, L. Davenport, S. Cook. 

1848. Rev. S. W. Cozzens, Rev. J. H. Morison, Jason Reed, Samuel Babcock, 

J. F. Kennedy, E. Tucker, Samuel Cook. 

1849. Rev. S. W. Cozzens, Rev. J. H. Morison, Jason Reed, Samuel Babcock, 

Lewis Davenport, S. Palmer, P. Ruggles. 

1850. Simeon Palmer, Jason Reed, Samuel Babcock, Philarman Ruggles, Lewis 

Davenport. 

1851. Rev. Francis Cunningham, Jason Reed, O. T. Rogers, E. G. Tucker, 

George Hunt. 

1852. Rev. J. H. Morison, Rev. A. K. Teele, E. G. Tucker, Geo. Hunt, 

C. Breck, Joshua Emerson, P. Ruggles. 

1853. Rev. J. H. Morison, Rev. A. K. Teele, E. G. Tucker, Geo. Hunt, 

C. Breck, Joshua Emerson, P. Ruggles. 

1854. Rev. J. H. Morison, Rev. A. K. Teele, Ebenezer G. Tucker, Amos 

Poole, John Sias, Aaron D. Vose. 

1855. Rev. J. H. Morison, Rev. A. K. Teele, John Tucker, Josiah Webb, 

John Sias, John Gould, Amos Poole. 

1856. Rev. A. K. Teele, George Vose, J. W. Vose, Josiah Fairbank, Josiah 

Webh, James Breck. 

1857. Josiah Fairbank, James Breck, George Vose, D. G. Hicks, G. W. Clapp, 

H. M. Fosdick. 

1858. Rev. A. K. Teele, Rev. J. H. Morison, George Vose, H. M. Fosdick, 

James Breck, L. B. Hanaford. 

1859. James Breck, D. G. Hicks, Rev. A. K. Teele, Rev. J. H. Morison, 

George Vose, H. M. Fosdick. 

1860. George Vose, Samuel Babcock, James Breck, D. G. Hicks, Albert K. 

Teele, John PI. Morison. 

1861. Horace Chapin, J. R. Webster, George Vose, Samuel Babcock, David G. 

Hicks, J. L. Kennedy. 

1862. D. G. Hicks, J. L. Kennedy, J. R. Webster, George Vose, Samuel Bab¬ 

cock, William Rogers. 

1863. A. K. Teele, J. H. Morison, James M. Kennedy, Joseph R. Webster, W. 

H. Seavey, J. W. Vose. 

1864. J. R. Webster, W. H. Seavey, A. K. Teele, J. H. Morison, J. W. Ken¬ 

nedy, William B. Foster. 

1865. Jacob G. Pierce, W. B. Foster, J. R. Webster, W. H. Seavey, A. K. 

Teele, J. H. Morison. 

1866. J. H. Morison, A. K. Teele, J. G. Pierce, W. S. Everett, S. Babcock, 

Jason Thayer. 

1867. S. Babcock, J. Thayer, Henry S. Russell, Robert H. Buck, E. J. Ken¬ 

dall, W. S. Everett. 

1868. Elijah Tucker, Edward J. Kendall, S. Babcock, J. Thayer, H. S. Russell, 

R. H. Buck. 


PUBLIC OFFICERS. 


233 


1869. T. Edwin Ruggles, E. Tucker, E. J. Kendall, S. Babcock, J. Thayer. 

1870. S. Babcock, Jason Thayer, T. E. Buggies, H. E. Ware, E. Tucker, E. 

J. Kendall. 

1871. Albert K. Teele, J. Walter Bradlee, S. Babcock, J. Thayer, T. E. Rug- 

gles, H. E. Ware. 

1872. T. E. Ruggles, Rev. E. T. Washburn, Rev. A. K. Teele, J. Walter 

Bradlee, S. Babcock, J. Thayer. 

1873. George A.’Eletcher, George Penniman, T. Edwin Ruggles, E. T. Wash¬ 

burn, A. Iv. Teele, J. Walter Bradlee. 

1874. Rev. T. E. Clary, J. Walter Bradlee, G. A. Eletcher, G. Penniman, 

T. Edwin Ruggles, J. Houghton. 

1875. J. Houghton, R. C. Watson, T. E. Clary, J. Walter Bradlee, G. A. 

Eletcher, G. Penniman. 

1876. Edwin H. Wadsworth, Charles E. C. Breck, Jason Houghton, R. C. Wat¬ 

son, T. E. Clary, J. Walter Bradlee. 

1877. J. Walter Bradlee, T. E. Clary, E. D. Wadsworth, C. E. C. Breck, J. 

Houghton, R. C. Watson. 

1878. Rev. E. Erothingham, R. C. Watson, J. R. Webster, J. Walter Bradlee, 

T. E. Clary, J. Littlefield, W. E. C. Eustis, E. D. Wadsworth, C. E. C. 
Breck. 

1879. E. D. Wadsworth, C. E. C. Breck, Jesse Bunton, Rev. E. Erothingham, 

R. C. Watson, J. Walter Bradlee, Rev. T. F. Clary, John Littlefield. 

1880. Rev. A. K. Teele, Rev. E. Erothingham, E. I). Wadsworth, Henry F. 

Thayer, R. C. Watson, C. E. C. Breck, Jesse Bunton, J. Walter 
Bradlee. 

1881. Rev. E. Frothingham, Rev. A. K. Teele, E. D. Wadsworth, Henry B. 

Martin, Henry E. Thayer, C. E. C. Breck. 

1882. Miss Emma E. Ware, Miss Emma C. Emerson, E. Frothingham, A. K. 

Teele, Henry B. Martin, Henry F. Thayer. 

1883. Rev. Calvin G. Hill, Rev. E. Frothingham, Miss Emma F. Ware, Miss 

Emma C. Emerson, Henry F. Thayer, Henry B. Martin. 

1884. Rev. E. Frothingham, Henry B. Martin, Rev. C. G. Hill, Henry E. 

Thayer, Miss Emma E. Ware, Miss Emma C. Emerson. 

1885. Miss Emma E. Ware, Miss Emma C. Emerson, Rev. F. Frothingham, 

Rev. C. G. Hill, Henry B. Martin, Henry E. Thayer. 

1886. Rev. C. G. Hill, Miss Emma F. Ware, Miss Emma C. Emerson, Henry 

E. Thayer, Rev. E. Erothingham, Henry B. Martin. 

1887. Rev. C. G. Hill, Miss Emma F. Ware, Miss Emma C. Emerson, Henry 

E. Thayer' Lyman Davenport. 


SENATORS FROM MILTON. 


No. 1 




Hon. John Ruggles 




1820-25 

No. 2 




Hon. James M. Robbins 




1842 

No. 3 




Hon. Samuel Babcock 




1864 

No. 4 




Hon. George Penniman 




1868 

No. 5 




Hon. David W. Tucker 




1881-82 



REPRESENTATIVES TO THE 

GENERAL 

COURT, 1666-1887. 

1666 

Stephen Kinsley 

1681 

Robert Tucker 

1668 

Samuel Wadsworth 

1682 

Ralph Houghton 

1669 

Robert Tucker 

1683 

William Blake 

1679 

Robert Tucker 

1690 

William Blake 

1680 

William Blake 

1691-1692 

George Sumner 










234 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


1693-1694 

1697 

1698-1707 

1708-1709 

1710-1716 

1717 

1718-1724 

1725-1726 

1727 

1728-1729 

1730 

1731 

1732-1733 

1734-1737 

1738-1739 

1740-1742 

1743 

1744 

1745-1746 

1747 

1748-1749 

1750-1751 

1752 

1753 

1754-1756 

1757-1758 

1759-1764 

1765 

1766-1768 

1769-1771 

1772-1773 

1774 


1777 

1778 

1779 


1779 j 

1780 

1781-1782 

1783 

1784-1785 

1786 

1787 

1788-1789 

1790-1791 

1792-1802 


Ebenezer Clap 
William Blake 
Thomas Vose 
George Sumner 
Ephraim Tucker 
John Wadsworth 
Ephraim Tucker 
John Wadsworth 
Jonathan Gulliver 
Ephraim Tucker 
Oxenhridge Thacher 
Ephraim Tucker 
John Wadsworth 
Jonathan Gulliver 
Nehemiah Clap 
Benjamin Sumner 
Samuel Miller 
Samuel Swift 
Samuel Miller 
Samuel Swift 
Samuel Miller 
Voted not to send 
Samuel Miller 
Joseph Bent 
Samuel Miller 
Jazaniah Tucker 
Andrew Belcher 
Stephen Miller 
Jazaniah Tucker 
Benjamin Wadsworth 
Josiah How 
f Stephen Miller 
t David Rawson 
f at Watertown 
\ Daniel Vose 

{ Provincial Congress 

Capt David Rawson 
Capt Daniel Vose 
/Ebenezer Tucker 
/Joseph Clap 
Ebenezer Tucker 
Daniel Vose 
Seth Sumner 

{ State Convention 

Edward H. Robbins 
Samuel Henshaw 
if Representatives to Concord 
Amariah Blake 
Allen Crocker 
Samuel Henshaw 
Edward H. Robbins 
Seth Sumner 
Edward H. Robbins 
Voted not to send 
Hon James Warren 
James Blake 
Seth Sumner 
Edward H. Robbins 


1803-1809 

1810 < 

1811 J 

1812 j 

David Tucker 
f William Pierce 
[.Asaph Churchill 
f William Pierce 

1 Jacob Gill 
f Asaph Churchill 

L William Pierce 

1813 

Jacob Gill 

1814 

Samuel K. Glover 

1815-1816 

Jason Houghton 

1817-1819 

John Ruggles, Jr. 

1820 

Voted not to send 

( Constitutional Convention 

1820 j 

Barney Smith 

Jedediah Atherton 

1821 

Voted not to send 

1822 

Barney Smith 

1823 j 

'Barney Smith 
. William Pierc.e 

1824 -j 

Barney Smith 

. William Pierce 

1825 

Voted not to send 

1826-1828 

Francis Davenport 

1829 -j 

John Ruggles 
. John Swift 

1830-1831 

John Ruggles 

1831 -j 

1832 j 

’ James Campbell 
. Thomas Hunt 

John Ruggles 
. Josiah Bent 

1833 

1834 | 

1835 | 

1836 | 

1837 | 

1838 | 

Voted not to send 
Jazaniah S. Foord 
Jason Houghton 

Moses Gragg 

Jason Houghton 
Edmund J. Baker 
Nathaniel Thomas 
Nathaniel Thomas 
James M. Robbins 
Nathaniel Thomas 
Ebenezer G. Tucker 

1839-1840 

Ebenezer G. Tucker 

1841-1842 

Charles Breck 

1843 

Thomas T. Wadsworth 

1844 

Voted not to send 

1845 

Simeon Emerson 

1846 

Voted not to send 

1847 

Jason Reed 

1848 

George W. Greene 

1849-1850 

Jason Reed 

1851 

Albert J. Moshier 

1852 

No choice 

1853 

Jason Reed 

, c „„ J Constitutional Convention 

1 Joseph M. Churchill 

1854 

J. Wesley Martin 

1855 

Samuel Babcock 

1856 

Amos Poole 




CENSUS OF MILTON. 


235 


Eleventh Norfolk District. 


1857 

Joseph M. Churchill 

1865-1866 

George Yose 

1858-1859 

None 

1867-1868 

None 

1860 

James M. Robbins 

1869 

John Sias 

1861 

Samuel Cook 

1870-1871 

David W. Tucker 

1862-1863 

None 

1872-1878 

None 

1864 

George W. Greene 

1874-1875 

Edward L. Pierce 


Fourth Norfolk District. 


1876-1877 

None 

1882 

Henry B. Martin 

1878-1879 

Horace E. Ware 

1883-1884 

J. Walter Bradlee 

1880-1881 

None 

1885-1886 

None 




CENSUS OF MILTON. 



Year. 


No. of Inhabitants. 

Year. 

No. of Inhabitants. 

1765 


743 

1850 


. 2,241 

1776 


. 1,213 

1855 


. 2,656 

1790 


. 1.039 

1860 


. 2,669 

1800 


1,143 

1865 


. 2,770 

1810 


1,264 

1870 


. 2,683 

1820 


. 1,502 

1875 


. 2,738 

1830 


1,576 

1880 


. 3,206 

1840 


1,822 

1885 


. 3,555 


So great was the draft on the men and resources of Milton 
during the long and perilous war of the Revolution that the loss 
in population was only recovered in thirty-five years. The cost 
of war, with the depreciation in the currency, reduced the people 
to the most straitened circumstances. In August, September, 
and October of 1780 one dollar in specie was equal to seventy- 
one and seventy-two dollars in Continental money. 

Hyde Park was incorporated April 22,1868, taking from Mil- 
ton about four hundred acres of land and one hundred and 
fifty of the inhabitants, — leaving the census of 1870 less than 
that of 1865. 

The annual increase of the town for one hundred years, 1776- 
1875, inclusive, according to the census, is 15^-. The greatest 
relative increase in population is from 1875 to 1880, which 
period records an increase of 468, or 98 per annum. The in¬ 
crease from 1875 to 1885 is 81^ per annum. 















236 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


CHAPTER IX. 

MINISTERS OF MILTON. 

T HE inhabitants of Unquity held religious services among 
themselves many years before the incorporation of the 
town of Milton. 

Stephen Kinsley, a resident of Braintree, who in 1653 was 
ordained as ruling elder of the Braintree church, removed to 
Unquity at an early date, and instituted religious worship in 
the east part of the town in connection with some of the 
inhabitants of Braintree. The services may have been con¬ 
ducted by himself, or by some clergyman of whom there is no 
mention in our records. There is no doubt that meetings were 
held in Unquity, and also that there was a meeting-house, or 
what served as a meeting-house and was so called, fifteen years, 
at least, before the house was erected on the Robert Yose land. 

It may also be inferred, from some points in the Dorchester 
records, that this meeting-house was in the easterly part of the 
town, on Adams street, near Churchill’s lane. (See chapter on 
Highways and By-ways.) 

Dec. 11, 1657. The question being moued vpon the foi’mer vote, 
whether our brethren and neighbours at Ynquitie should pay ore not p’por- 
tionable to the one hundred pond to the ministry —in regarde they had a 
minister ther, therevpon it was voted the same time as followeth. That 
those aboue the riuer of Naponsett (except M ris Glouers farme and M ris 
fens farme) are exempted for payinge vnto M r Mather for this yeare if 
they Desire it. —Fourth Report of Record Commissioners, p. 89. 

REV. JOSEPH EMERSON. 

The first regularly licensed clergyman officiating in Milton, of 
whom we have any account, was Rev. Joseph Emerson. He 
was here in troublous times, commencing his work in 1666 or 
166T. Extreme poverty prevailed. Great difficulty existed in 
the currency. The whole town, with the help of that part 
of Braintree lying nearest our borders, could with difficulty 
raise <£53 per year,—his stipulated salary. At first he seems 
to have “ boarded around,” as school-teachers used to do, 
passing a week in a family. At length he married the daughter 
of Rev. Edward Bulkley, of Concord, and commenced “ keep- 




MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


237 


ing house,” and receiving his pay in the various commodities 
of the farms, with only occasional instalments of money. This 
led to embarrassments and misunderstandings. His position 
became uncomfortable; he received a call to settle at Mendon, 
and removed from Milton in 1669. 

The first mention of Mr. Emerson in our town records is as 
follows: — 

At a day of humiliation on the third day of Feb. 1668 when the Town 
met to speake how the Lord did bow their hearts concerning Mr. Emer¬ 
son’s settlement: after reading the writing of revered and honored men 
who met in Boston the 19 th of the 12 th mo. 1667, they did declare them¬ 
selves unsatisfied with Mr. Emerson and did send 3 men, namely, Anthony 
Gulliver, Samuel Wadsworth and William Daniel to acquaint Mr. Emerson 
with the mind of the people, and also to tell Mr. Emerson that they were 
willing to pay him for a quarter of a year, whether he did preach or not. 

In March, 1669, Robert Badcock made an acknowledgment before the 
Church in Dorchester for taking up and divulging reports against Rev. Mr. 
Emerson. — Dor. Records. 

We are not able to decide definitely when Mr. Emerson came 
to Milton. He was here in 1667 and 1668, and left after August, 
1669. 


KEY. MR. WISWALL. 

In Feb. 1669 a committee was sent to Sandwich to treat with Rev. Mr. 
Wiswall to be helpful with us in the ministry, offering him £60 per year 
and the use of house and lands and liberty to cut wood for his own use. 

We do not know that Mr. Wiswall was prevailed upon to 
accept the invitation, but we have evidence that the committee 
waited upon him, as in the treasurer’s account there appears a 
charge of twelve shillings each for Robert Badcock and Samuel 
Wadsworth “for going to treat with Mr. Wiswall.” 

REV. MR. BOUSE. 

At a town meeting the 19th of July, 1670,, it was agreed by vote that 
Mr. Bouse should be desired to be helpful to us in the ministry by way of 
trial. 

Mr. Bouse evidently came to Milton for one Sabbath, if no 
more. Goodman Daniel, who kept a tavern at his place on 
Milton Hill, had a charge against the town of Milton, 1670, 
“for bread and wine for Mr. Bouse 0. 1. 6.” 

REY. THOMAS MIGHILL. 

On the 23d of December, 1670, Mr. John Gill and Thomas 
Swift were requested “ to go to Dedham as soon as they should 


238 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


hear that Mr. Mighill was come from the East, and see to get 
him to preach the next Sabbath after.” They succeeded in 
securing him. He preached on the 8th of January, 1671, and 
remained until the end of April. His services were retained 
still longer. 

Sept. 22d, 1671, it was voted by the Town inhabitants, their full and free 
desire of the settlement of Mr. Mighill among them, and Elder Kinsley, 
Robert Yose, Anthony Gulliver and Robert Badcock were desired to 
acquaint Mr. Mighill what the Town’s desire was. 

Mr. Mighill remained as minister of the town until Feb., 
1678, but without regular settlement. He was a graduate of 
Harvard College in 1663. It appears that his labors here were 
arduous and faithful. The meeting-house on the Yose lot was 
built during his ministry, after long and persistent effort. 
“ Twenty-two cords of wood were cut and sold to pay for 
clothes for the minister.” 

There was, however, a division of feeling among the citizens 
with regard to Mr. Mighill. A portion of the town did not 
harmonize with the movement in his favor, and engaged in 
worship in a separate company; but the great majority 
earnestly desired his settlement, and petitioned the General 
Court to assist them in securing this end. 

The petition, 1 which is found in the State Archives, is here 


i To the honored Counsell sitting in Boston. The humble petition of Generali of the 
inhabitants of Milton. 

Humbly sheweth that whereas we have been under the various changes of God’s 
Providence towards us in respect of those that have been by God’s Providence employed 
amongst us in the ministry in their removal from us. 

We have for four years past enjoyed Mr. Thomas Mighill in that work; in which time 
he has been desired by our Town several times to continue with us in order to a settle¬ 
ment which doth appear in our Town Records, by which we consider the Town standing 
obliged to inform whatsoever they have promised him. 

And concerning Mr. Mighill in special he continued with us in the time of our greatest 
danger in respect to the warr, which was a great comfort to us that we had the worship 
of God enjoyed amongst us on the Sabbath day; also he took great pains with instructing 
and catechising our children, both publicly and privately and praying with them; but by 
unsettlement of the times and things with us, Mr. Mighill having removed his family by 
reason of the trouble, so being in some doubt we should lose him, the Town made a new 
address to him, to continue with us in order to settlement; whereupon he brought his 
family again into the Town looking at the manifestation of the love of the people judging 
that he had a call of God so to do; but notwithstanding the Town’s obligation on their 
part and Mr. Mighill’s acceptance on his part, we consider that he is more likely to be 
removed from us, than to settle among us. 

Inasmuch as there are several of our neighbors that are about to carry on Church 
work in our Town, in which work Mr. Mighill is left out, and we consider the reason is 
not in him. 

How if Mr. Mighill is reipoved from us on this account we consider it will be a dishonor 
to God and will bring us under the dearth of promise, and also be a means of continual 
division amongst us. 

By consideration whereof we humbly crave your honors to afford us your advice and 
assistance herein. 

Which we hope will conduce to the glory of God and our comfort. 

Dated, Milton, April ist, 1678 . 






MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


239 


subjoined, to show the earnestness of religions feeling among 
the early residents. 

It will be noticed, by a reference to tbe signatures to the 
petition, that only those on the west side of Balster’s Brook, 
which in those days was the dividing line of the town, appear 
us favorable to Mr. Mighill. 

Mr. Mighill, though urged to remain permanently, accepted 
a settlement at Scituate, and removed from Milton. 

[Thacher’s Journal] “ Oct. 15, 1684, Mr. Mighill was ordained at 
Scituate.” 


REV. SAMUEL MM. 

In the spring of 1676, Rev. Samuel Man, driven from his 
parish in Wrentham, by the Indian war, came to Milton, and, 
in 1678, took the position made vacant by the removal of Mr. 
Mighill. Mr. Man was born in Cambridge, July 6, 1647. He 
graduated ^t Harvard College, 1665. He married Esther, 
daughter of Robert Ware, May 13, 1673. Died at Wrentham, 
May 22, 1719, in the 72d year of his age, and 49th of his min¬ 
istry. He taught school in Dedham five years. In 1670 he 
removed to that part of Dedham now Wrentham, where he 
preached until March 30, 1676, when the inhabitants were 
obliged to withdraw, and desert their homes by reason of King 
Philip’s war. All the families left town. 

The record says: “ Rev. Mr. Man went to Milton, where he 
stayed over four years.” His son Nathaniel was born in Mil- 
ton, April 9, 1677, and his son William, May 1, 1679. While 
at Milton he had an invitation, Nov. 16, 1677, “to be helpful 
in the ministry at Rehoboth.” 

Rev. Joseph Bean’s “ Century Sermon,” preached at Wren¬ 
tham, Oct. 15, 1773, says: — 

After the war was over, the inhabitants returned, and chose a com¬ 
mittee to go to Milton and ask Mr. Man to return to Wrentham. 

He was then preaching at Milton, or already had a call to preach there, 
or Milton people were about to give him a call. 

He resumed his duties at Wrentham Aug. 21, 1680, and soon 


This petition was presented to the Council by Thomas Vose and John Kinsley, April 
ist, 1678 . 

Signed, — Robert Vose, Robert Badcock, Henry Crane, William Daniell, John 
Kinsley, Thomas Vose, John Daniell, Teague Crehore, Samuel Badcock, Daniell lien- 
sher, Benjamin Badcock, Edward Vose, Jonathan Badcock, Steven Langley, Humphrey 
Tifinay, John Walliston, Walter Morey, Ephraim Newton, William Denison, Robert 
Redman, Nathaniel Pitcher, Samuel Pitcher, John Pitcher, John Henry, Richard Smith, 
Thomas Horton. 



240 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


removed his family there. In 1692 he was ordained and in¬ 
stalled pastor of the church in Wrentham, preaching his own 
ordination sermon, from 1 Cor., chap. 4. 

Chief Justice Sewall visited him Sept. 16, 1697, and said he 
had eleven children. All of his eleven children were married. 
Just before he died he called his family around him and divided 
his property among them, giving to each his share, as had been 
designated in a will which he had written in 1718, but had 
never executed. 

The legacies of the dying father were regarded as satisfactory 
and sacred, and were carried out with all the exactness of a 
legally executed testamentary document. His brother Beriah 
Man was made administrator of his estate, which amounted to 
<£471 Is. lid. 

His funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Peter Thacher, of 
Milton, and was printed. 

The first mention of Mr. Thacher is the following entry in 
the Town Records: — 

At a Towne Meeting in Milton, Aug. 13, 1630, it was then desired that 
if any pssons in the Town had anything to aleadg why Mr. Peter Thacher 
might not be the minister of Milton, they had Ire leve to deelaire them¬ 
selves, and if that they did not then speak, it was to be taken for grant, 
that thcr was a willingness of the Town for his coming in. 

This was proposed 3 times, and ther was no man did oppose. 


ORIGIN OF THE THACHERS. 

The origin of the Thachers of New England was probably 
Queen Camel, Somersetshire, England. 

Rev. Peter Thacher, the supposed great-grandfather of the 
first pastor of Milton, was instituted vicar of the parish of 
Queen Camel in 1574, and continued in that office till his 
death, in 1624, — a period of fifty years. 

It is believed that he was the father of Rev. Peter of Milton 
Clevedon, of John of Queen Camel, and of Anthony, one of the 
three grantees of Yarmouth, Mass. 

Rev. Peter Thacher, the grandfather of Milton’s first pastor, 
was born in 1588; he entered Queen’s College, Oxford, May 6, 
1603; took the degree of A.B. Feb. 4, 1608, and became Fellow 
of Corpus Christi College, March 20, 1613. August 9, 1616, he 
was instituted vicar of the parish of Milton Clevedon, Somer¬ 
setshire, and remained in that office till 1622, when he accepted 
the rectorship of the Church of St. Edmunds, in Salisbury, 
Wiltshire. 





MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


241 


His son Thomas, the father of the Milton Peter, was born 
May 1, 1620, while his father was vicar of Milton Clevedon, 
and this was doubtless the place of his birth. 

He arrived at Boston in the ship “Beero,” in company with his 
uncle, Anthony Thacher, minister at Marblehead, June 4, 1635, 
when he was fifteen years old. 

He was brought up and educated by Rev. Charles Chauncey, 
afterwards President of Harvard College. He married, first, 
May 11, 1643, Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Ralph Partridge,’ 
minister of Duxbury. She died June 2, 1664. He was or¬ 
dained pastor of the church at Weymouth Jan. 2, 1664. He 
married, second, at Boston, Margaret, daughter of Henry Webb, 
and widow of Jacob Sheaffe, to which place he removed in 
1677-78, where he issued from his own pen the first medical 
document ever published in America. This document can be 
found in the “Memorial History of Boston,” Vol. 4, p. 536. 

On removing to Boston, he united with the First Church. 
About this time, by reason of internal dissensions, twenty-eight 
members seceded from the First Church of Boston and organ¬ 
ized the Third Church. Mr. Thacher, wishing to join the 
seceders, and failing to. secure a letter of dismission to the new 
organization, was dismissed to the church in Charlestown, and 
from this church united with the Third Church, and on the 
16th of Feb., 1670, was installed as pastor over the Third 
Church of Boston (called the Old South Church, after the 
budding of the New South, on Summer street, in 1717), where he 
remained until his decease, Oct. 15, 1678. 

He is spoken of by contemporary writers as. “ the best writer 
of his time.” 

His children were, Peter, born at Salem, Mass., July 18, 
1651; Ralph; Thomas, died at Boston, April 2, 1686; Patience, 
married Wm. Kemp; Elizabeth, married, first, Nathaniel Daven¬ 
port, killed in the Narragansett fight, Dec. 19, 1675; she 
married, second, Samuel Davis. 

REV. PETER, THACHER, OF MILTON, 

was born at Salem, Mass., July 18, 1651, and graduated at 
Harvard, 1671. “June 15, 1674, he was chosen third fellow 
of the colledg.” 

Judge Sewall writes, July 1, 1674: — 

Sir Thacher Common placed. Justification was his head. He had a 
good solid piec. . . . stood above an hour & yet brake off before he came 
0 * n J use - % reason that there was no warning given none, [after ye 
undergraduates] were present. Save M r Dan. Gookin S'., the President, & 

mvsp.iT 9 


242 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


In 1676 he accompanied his classmates, Judge Samuel 
Sewall and John Danforth, to Europe, where he remained for 
a year or more pursuing and perfecting his studies in prepara¬ 
tion for his life-work, giving much attention to the science of 
medicine, in which he made eminent attainments, so that his 
opinion in critical cases was often sought for. 

After returning to America he preached for nearly a year at 
Barnstable, Mass., with great and general acceptance, gaining 
the confidence and affections of the church and community to 
such a degree that when called to Milton his people were 
unwilling to consent to his removal; Governor Hinckley and 
Barnabas Lothrop, in behalf of the church and town, joining 
in a petition to the Rev. Messrs. Allen, Mather, Torrey, and 
Willard to use their influence and persuasion in securing his 
continuance at Barnstable. 1 

The journal of Mr. Thacher contains the following entries 
regarding his invitation to Milton and his removal from Barn¬ 
stable : — 

June 28, 1680. A committee of eight persons, among whom was 
Thomas Swift, came to request me to settle among them. 

In his reply to the call of the church, dated May 18, 1681, he 
says:— 


I was persuaded so far to comply withall, as to remove myself and my 
family to this place, y* so I might the more clearly discern, and faithfully 
follow divine guidance and direction in my future settlement amongst you, 
or remove from y ou , according as God should unite y e hearts of y e Chh. 
and Congregation unto me and mine, and ours unto y ou or otherwise dis¬ 
pose. 


REMOVAL TO MILTON. 

In September, 1680, he removed with his family to Milton. 

Sep. 10, 1680, we came safe to Milton that night with our goods, and 
Quarter Master Swift got them all into the house that night. 

We lodged at Mr. Swift’s, our whole family. 

This removal was attended with no little ostentation and 
parade. A delegation of ten members of the church of Milton 
went forward to Barnstable to hear home the coming pastor. He 
was escorted out of Barnstable and attended on his way as far 
as Sandwich by a cavalcade of fifty-seven horsemen; and so 
the triumphal march was made into the new field of labor. 


Mass. Hist. Coll., Fifth Series, Vol. 42 . 




MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


243 


[Thacher’s Journal.] Sep. S, 1680. This day, my dear, myself, Theo¬ 
dora and Lydia began our journey to Milton. Went from Mr. Allines, 
and had a great company of horse with us, seven and fifty horse and 
twelve of them double went with us to Sandwich, and they got me to go 
to prayer with them and I think none of them parted with me with dry 
eyes. 

On the 15th of October following the Milton call was re¬ 
newed. 

In the evening, Mr. Swift, Mr. Holman, and Brother Newton came as 
messengers of the Chh. to give me a call. 

After a residence among the people of nine months, this invi¬ 
tation was definitely accepted, May 18, 1681, and the services 
of the ordination were attended on the first day of June fol¬ 
lowing. 

[Thacher’s Journal.] May 20. This day the ordination beer was 
brewed. 

May 30. This day the gates were hung. They made an arbor to enter¬ 
tain the messengers of the Churches. 

June 1, 1681. Tuesday, I was ordained (though most unworthy) Pastor 
of the Chh. in Milton. My text 2 Tim. 4, 5. 

Mr. Mather called the votes. 

Old Mr. Elliot, Mr. Mather, Mr. Torrey, Mr. Willard laid on hands. 

We sung the 24 Psalm. I gave the blessing. They dined at my house 
in the arbor. 

Our narrative would lack completeness did we not here pre¬ 
sent the answer of Mr. Thacher to the call of the church and 
town for his settlement as their pastor, — a document showing 
the ponderous thought and language of the times. 1 


iRev. Peter Thacher’s answer to the church and congregation in Milton, May 8, 
1681: — 

“ Dearly Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, y e serious and solemn consideration of 
y e all-wise disposing and leading hand of Divine Providence both of yo'selves and of me, 
in respect of your first kind invitation of me unto y® work of y e ministry. 

“ In order unto settlement with you and taking office amongst you, by which find 
y e advice ofy e , y* most judicious and discerning, I was persuaded so far to comply with-all 
as to remove myself and my family to this place, y‘ so I might y e more clearly discern and 
faithfully follow divine guidance and direction in my future settlement amongst you or 
remove from you according as God shall unite y® hearts of y e Chh. and congregation 
unto me and mine and ours unto you or otherwise dispose, and God having in his infinite 
goodness given me much experience of your undeserved love, kindness and affection 
of y 6 Chh. and Congregation to me and mine, not only in your readiness to doe for me 
as occasion hath presented, but in your obliging gratitude promised, and in your unani¬ 
mous, frequent and affectionate calls unto settlement with you and office engagement 
amongst you, which unmerited and unexpected, th6 much desired unanimous affection 
hath, doth and (continuing) I hope will much engage, oblige and endear mine to your¬ 
selves. 

. “ Y c consideration of all these things, and many more which I might but shall not men¬ 
tion, calling aloud upon me for more y n ordinary preponderation, due consultation, fer¬ 
vent supplication, and speedy resolution with finall determination. I have diligently 
weighed, and preponderated, seriously consulted with others, earnestly and extraordi- 



244 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


In accordance with the custom of the times, Mr. Thacher 
seems to have preached his own ordination sermon; text, 2 Tim. 
4: 5. 

The journal continues : — 

June 5, 1681, first baptism. June 19, 1681, this day I administered 
the Lord’s Supper, which was the first time it was ever administered in 
Milton, and the first time I ever administered it. 

There were about four-score communicants. 

This announcement by Mr. Thacher, that a church of more 
than eighty members had not enjoyed the privilege and blessing 
of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper until this date requires 
some explanation. Although the town had then been incor¬ 
porated nineteen years, there was no church organization until 
three years previous to the coming of Mr. Thacher. A new 
meeting-house was erected on the land donated by Robert 
Yose in 1672. Rev. Joseph Emerson preached in 1667-8, 
in the meeting-house on Milton Hill. Rev. Thomas Mighill 
succeeded Mr. Emerson and remained for eight years; during 
his ministry the new meeting-house was erected. After Mr. 
Mighill came Rev. Samuel Man, who immediately preceded 
Mr. Thacher. 

No one of these was regularly settled as pastor of the church, 
and there was no church to be settled over while these pioneer 
preachers were laboring with our fathers. Under the rigid 
views then prevailing the privileges of church ordinances 


narily supplicated, both publiq’ly, privately and secretly, divine guidance and conduct, 
and do therefore resolve and determine, (with submission to divine sovraignty and in 
entire dependence upon divine sufficiency for assistance and acceptance). 

“ Notwithstanding my deep unworthiness, of my great unfitness for, my too much back¬ 
wardness unto, and my great discouragements in the work of the ministry, not only in 
respect of y e great duty and difficulty of y e work in itself considered, but especially 
in y 8 place in respect of those lamentable animosityes and divisions which have been in 
y 5 place, which both occasioned your unsettlement untill now w ch y e Lord for his own 
name sake pardon, and prevent for v e future. 

“ I say notwithstanding y s , yet 1 resolve, and detei'mine to give myself up to y s work 
in y e ministry among yourselves (believing God calls me thereunto) on y a Conditions — 

“ i. So long you continue one amongst yourselves, and for me, all due means being 
used or tendred for hearing in case of difference. 

“ 2. So long as I may enjoy y e liberty of my judgment, according to Scripture rules. 

“ 3. So long as you shall subject yourselves and yours to y e Ordinances and officers of 
v e Chh. 

“4. So long as I may follow my studdys without distraction : and provide for myself 
and family according to y e rules of God’s word, so long as you shall give me scripture 
encouragements, &c. 

“ 1 shall endeavor to give myself up unto y e work of y e Lord, unto which God and 
3 r ourselves are calling me, begging your prayers for me that I may come unto you in 
y e fulness of y e blessings of y e Gospell of peace, and y* all y* ministeriall assisting grace 
may be from time to time granted to me, whereby I may be helped thro my whole minis¬ 
teriall work unto God’s glory, to y e conversion, edification and eternal salvation of your 
soules, and unto my own peace, comfort and tranquility, and y® best good of my family 
w ■ the Lord grant for his own name’s sake, supplying all our needs according to y e riches 
of his glory by Christ unto whome be honour and glory in y e Chh. forever more. Amen.” 




MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


245 


were governed by the strictest rules, and our fathers and 
mothers must have enjoyed these privileges in connection with 
the church in Dorchester before the settlement of Mr. Thacher. 

MR. THACHER’S FAMILY. 

Nov. 21, 167T, Mr. Thacher married Theodora, daughter of 
Rev. John Oxenbridge; she died in Milton, Nov. 18, 1697, 
aged 38. 

He married again, 1699, Susannah Bailey, widow of Rev. 
John Bailey, first church in Boston. She died in 1724, aged 59. 

He married a third time, three months before his death, 
Elizabeth, widow of Joshua Gee, of Boston, a ship-builder; she 
was daughter of Judah Thacher, of Yarmouth, his second cousin. 

He had the following children: Theodora; Bathsheba, died 
in Barnstable; Oxenbridge, born May 17, 1681, died Oct. 29, 
1772; Elizabeth, born March 6, 1683, died 1716; Mary, born 
March 15, 1685; Peter, born Oct. 1, 1688, died April 22, 1744; 
John; Thomas, born April 6, 1693, died Dec. 19, 1721; John 
second, son of Peter and Susannah, born March 23, 1701. 

Theodora married Lieut. Jonathan Gulliver, of Milton. Eliza¬ 
beth married Rev. S. Niles, of Braintree. She was buried in 
Braintree, and her grave is marked by a headstone still legible. 
Oxenbridge graduated at Harvard College, 1698; for several 
years he was selectman of Boston and representative to the 
General Court. He studied for the ministry, and for a time 
preached to the Indians at Ponkapog, but finally relinquished 
that profession and engaged in trade at Boston, where he lived 
for twenty-five years. After his father’s death he returned to 
Milton, took possession of the home of his childhood, on Thacher’s 
Plain, and lived there for the remainder of his life, honored and 
respected by his fellow-citizens, passing to his rest, Oct. 29,1772, 
at the advanced age of ninety-one years five months and twelve 
days. 

Peter Thacher, Jr., graduated at Harvard College in 1706. 
He married Mary, daughter of Rev. Thomas Prince, of the Old 
South Church, Boston; was ordained as pastor of the church in 
Middleborough, Nov. 2, 1709, and continued in that position 
for thirty-five years, until his death, April 22, 1744. A sketch 
of his life was published by Rev. Thomas Prince, his father-in- 
law. 

Thomas was connected in business with his brother Oxen¬ 
bridge, in Boston, as brazier. In his will, proved Nov. 26,1722, 
he says : — 

My loving brother Oxenbridge and sister Gulliver I think, have a suffi¬ 
ciency to carry them through. I have spent my time and strength in my 
brother’s service. 


246 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


MR. THACHER’S NUMEROUS DUTIES. 

Rev. Peter Thacher, of Milton, was one of the leading divines 
of his time. He acquired a knowledge of the Indian language, 
and was appointed to preach to the Indians at Ponkapog once 
a month. At the same time, as the beloved physician, he at¬ 
tended them in sickness. 

His advice was sought not only in matters pertaining to the 
churches of the colony, but also by the magistrates in the gen¬ 
eral affairs of the government. It will be seen from his journal 
that he was frequently summoned to Bcston to advise with the 
clergymen and magistrates on questions of importance. Gradu¬ 
ating at Harvard, he became tutor there for a time, and also 
a fellow of the college. 

Cotton Mather says, in that funeral sermon, of which the 
following is the wonderful title : — 

The Comfortable Chambers open and visited upon the departure of that 
aged and faithful servant of God, Mr. Peter Thacher , the-never-to-be-for- 
gotten Pastor of Milton, who made his flight thither Dec. 17, 1727. 

He was thought worthy to be a Fellow of Harvard College, and an 
owner of the learning wherein we were instructed there. But what I re¬ 
member with a most abiding impression is, that besides his methods to 
recommend unto his pupils that early piety, whereof he had been himself 
a notable pattern, we admired his prayers in the College-Hall for the fluent, 
copious, expressive beauties of them, and the heavenly entries we per¬ 
ceived in them. 

His presence was in great demand in councils for ordina¬ 
tions by the churches, far and near. 

A charge, in his own handwriting, lies before me ; it is of great 
length, and only a portion of it is here introduced, as showing 
the spirit and character of the man. It is copied from the origi¬ 
nal manuscript, which bears upon it endorsements, by his own 
hand, of having been delivered at ordinations and installations 
in twelve separate churches, as follows: — 

The charge w° I gave M r Nathaniel Pitcher, Sept. 14, 1707. M r Dan- 
forth preached and M r Morton gave y e right hand of fellowship. M' 
Pitcher was ordained Pastor of y e North Chh in Scituate. 

M r Norton, M r Danforth, M r Little, M r Eels, and myself laid on hands. 

The charge w° I gave M' Peter Thacher, ordained at Waymouth, Nov. 26, 
1707. M Whitman, M r Danforth, and I laid on hands. M' Hubait 
ordered y e votes. M 1 Fisk gave y e right hand of fellowship. [Son of 
Thomas, of Boston, and nephew of Peter, of Milton.] 

Son, P. T., ordained at Middleburrough, Nov. 2, 1709. M r Keith, M r 
Thacher, and myself laid on hands. I gave y* charge. M' Keith gave 
y e right hand of fellowship. 

Son Niles, ordained at South Braintree, May 23, 1711. I gave him his 





MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


247 


charge. M r John Danforth, M r Joseph Belcher, M r Peter Thacher of 
Waymouth, and myself laid on hands. Y 8 Rev. M r J. Danforth, gave y e 
right hand of fellowship. 

M r . Fisk ordained at Killingley, Oct. 1, 1715. I gave y e . charge. 

The charge given to y e Rev. M r Nathaniel Clap at Newport on Rode- 
Island, and a Chh was gathered y e same time Nov. 3, 1720. M r Benjamin 
Wadsworth prayed, M r Clapp preached, M r Samuel Danforth prayed after 
sermon, M r Belcher ordered y e votes. I gave y e charge. M r John Dan¬ 
forth gave y e right hand of fellowship, we all laid on hands. 

Nov. 9, 1720. M r John Mackinzine was ordained at Sutton. I gave 
y e charge, M r Swift ordered y e votes. M 1 Baxter gave y e right of fellow¬ 
ship. M r Dwite, M r Baxter, M r Swift and I laid on hands. 

For the settlement of M r Peter Thacher over y e new North Chh, Jan. 27, 
1719, some made such a tumult that it could not be. 

M r Thomas Paine ordained at Waymouth Aug st 19, 1719. I gave y e 
charge. M r Whitman gave y 8 right hand of fellowship. M r Danforth 
ordered y e votes —we three laid on hands. 

Feb. 22. 1726. M r Jonathan Mills was ordained at Bellingham. I 
gave y 8 charge, M r Swift gave y e right hand of fellowship. 

Nov. 2, 1726. M r John Hancock was ordained at Braintree, North Pre¬ 
cinct, his father preached. I gave y 6 charge and ordered y 8 votes. M r 
Danforth gave y°. right hand of fellowship. 

Nov. 15, 1727. M r Samuel Dunbar was ordained at Stoughton. I gave 
y* charge, and M r Gee gave y 8 right hand of fellowship. M r Gee, M r 
Dexter and myself laid hands. 


INSTALLATION OF REV. PETER THACHER, NEW NORTH 
CHURCH. 

That portion of the charge for the installation of Peter 
Thacher, New North Church, Boston, is as follows: — 

Whereas, you upon whome we now impose hands have been solemnly 
ordained a minister of y 8 gospel, and a pastor of a Chh from w° you have 
been dismissed, nemine contradicenti, and are called unto the office of a 
Pastor in this particular Chh and have accepted that call, we are not to re- 
ordaine you —yet to fix you in this Chh as a Pastor. 

We do therefore, according to v e Institution of our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
in his name, charge you before God and our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall 
judge the quick and dead at his appearing, that you take the oversight of 
this flock committed to you by the Holy Ghost. 

That you preach the word in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, 
exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. 

That you administer the holy sacrament of the covenant of grace, baptism, 
and y e Lord’s Supper to the proper subjects thereof. That you exercise 
holy discipline according to the Divine rule. 

Tn a word we awfully charge you to look well to yourself, and to y e whole 
flock, over which y e Holy Ghost hath made you an overseer, as one that 
must give account of all their souls unto the great Shepherd of the sheep, 
at y 8 day of his appearing. 

This charge, and also a sermon for a Fast delivered in Milton, 
Feb. 20, 1706, are in the handwriting of Mr. Thacher. Text, 


248 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Ps. 102: 16. The original manuscripts are at the Congrega¬ 
tional Library, Beacon street, Boston. 

At the same library may be found a manuscript sermon, in 
the handwriting of Rev. Peter Thacher, of Middleboro’, son of 
Peter, of Milton, preached at Public Fast, Middleboro’, April 23, 
1741. Text, Job 36: 21. Also a sermon delivered in Roxbury, 
1st Precinct, June 15, 1749, and North Church, Boston, July 
2, 1749, which, with scarcely a doubt, is in the handwriting of 
Rev. Peter Thacher, son of Thomas, of Boston. Text, Lev. 
26: 18-20. 


CONVEYANCE OF LAND. 

Soon after the ordination the town voted to convey to Mr. 
Thacher twenty acres of the ministerial land. This was laid out 
Nov. 4, 1681. 

Nov. 4. Father Gulliver, Quartermaster Swift, Mr. Holman and I laid 
out my twenty acres of land: it runs up to the highway by Ezra Clapp’s 
land, that side is forty rods wide, and three score rods on the other side, 
butted with the river on the one end and with the highway on the other 
end. 

In the Records of the Town, page 77, it is thus described: — 

Lying next to the land of Ezra Clapp, being bounded on the north by the 
brook and so running on the east by the land of Ezra Clapp about 100 rods 
till it came to the highway leading to the town; the breadth of the land 
from the wall being about forty rods; and onthe west side in length being 
seventy rods till it comes to the point to the highway. 

In addition to this grant of the town, Mr. Thacher purchased 
of Sargeant Thomas Yose, Jan. 4, 1682, a tract of land, with a 
house and barn standing upon the same, containing twenty- 
three acres. 

This was bounded southerly by the brook, and extended along 
Thacher street, towards Mattapan. 

Jan. 4. 1682. Sargeant Vose came to see me, and we went to see his 
house and barn and land ; so we made a bargain ; he was to let me have 2J 
acres of land upon the brook, to the end of the little meadow, and so upon 
a square to Brother Ezra Clapp’s land, and the house and barn, and to 
secure me a way to it, and I was to give him £100, in money, to be paid in 
three years time, pay 6 in the hundred till it is paid. 

NEW HOUSE. 

Notwithstanding the possession of this house, purchased of 
Sargeant Yose, Mr. Thacher continued to live in the ministerial 
house till he had built a new one for himself. 


MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


249 


July 11, 1684. There was a Church-meeting at my house; I put them 
in mind of the promise to help me build, so they determined to speak with 
the Town about it. 

Nov. 19. I went to Brush Hill, and Deacon Allen was there, with whom 
I discoursed about the dimensions of my house, and he gave me his 
advice. 

Dec. 2, 1684. The Church met at my house about their promise to help 
me build, and after much discourse, they subscribed £6.5, in money, £4.15, 
country pay, and £5. in work. 

The house bought of Sargeant Vose may have been old and 
not suitable for occupancy, or not adapted to the position and 
family of the noted pastor; probably it was taken down, and 
the new house built on its site. 

There is abundant evidence to make it sure that the new 
house stood on the land purchased of Thomas Yose. 

REMOVAL TO HIS NEW HOUSE. 

On the 11th of November, 1689, Mr. Thacher removed from 
the ministerial house, of which he took possession Sept. 11, 
1680, into his own house, where he continued to reside during 
life. 

Nov. 11, 1689. Myself, wife, children and family removed from Milton 
ministerial house to our own house, and God made me very earnest in 
prayer, that the guilt and filth of our old sins might not follow us to that 
new habitation, hut that God would pardon what we had done amiss, and 
keep our house with us, and dwell in our habitation. 

His family at this time consisted of his wife, Theodora; his 
children, Theodora, Oxenbridge, Elizabeth, and Peter (Bath- 
sheba died and was buried in Barnstable; Mary was still-born) ; 
also Lydia Chapin, a friend and helper, who long had been 
in the family, and three slaves, Ephraim, Obed, and Peg. 

This house in which he passed thirty-eight years of his event¬ 
ful life was situated on the north-west side of Pine Tree Brook, 
but a few rods from the brook, and about twenty rods west of 
Thacher street. 


thacher’s day. 

In the year 1806 the late Hon. James M. Bobbins, of Milton, 
then a school-boy at Milton Academy, boarded at the house of 
Col. Elijah Yose, who lived on Gun Hill road, near the house 
of Mr. Nathan Crossman, Jr.; in the same family Rev. Samuel 
Gile was entertained while preaching before his ordination. 

Here Mr. Robbins heard old Mrs. Fowler relate to Mr. Gile 
the story of Parson Thacher’s labors, which in after years he 


250 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


reproduced in that graphic and truthful bit of history known 
as “ Thacher’s Day.” This was first printed in the “ Colum¬ 
bian Magazine,” many years ago. It has since appeared several 
times in local papers, with many alterations. As it shows the 
various duties expected and required of country clergymen at 
that early period, and to some extent in these times, and is 
the actual history of one day in the life of Milton’s first pastor, 
it claims a place in this record; and we give it in the language 
of Mr. Robbins: — 

TRIALS OF THE OLD-TIME COUNTRY PARSON. 

No one person to-day assumes to possess such a variety of knowledge 
as did the clergyman of the olden time. He then claimed to be a judge, 
a lawyer, a teacher, physician and mechanic, all rolled into one. He not 
only claimed this omniscience but “ he had his claim allowed.” He was 
expected to settle all the difficulties of the parish, to cure the sick, to heal 
the wounded. 

“ His house was known to all the vagrant train, 

He chid their wanderings, but relieved their pain.” 

There can be no better example of this generously endowed being than 
Rev. Peter Thacher, the first minister ever settled in Milton, Mass. On 
the occasion of the settlement of Rev. Mr. Gile over the same parish, 
many years later, he was sitting in the kitchen of his country boarding¬ 
house, anticipating with despondent mood the weighty duties of his min¬ 
isterial life. Old Mrs. Fowler, the mother of the landlady, sat knitting 
in the rocking-chair beside the huge fireplace, and a little boy was strug¬ 
gling with the hard lessons of his Latin Grammar, as he sat on the old- 
fashioned settle. Presently the old lady stopped her busy hands, raised 
her eyes to the desponding young minister, Mr. Gile, and sought to en¬ 
courage him by the following story, showing the multifarious capacities of 
one individual. The little boy long ago threw his school books aside, and 
repeats Mrs. Fowler’s story thus: — 

“Mr. Thacher was the first minister settled in Milton, Mass., in 1680. 
Like Goldsmith’s parson, — 

“ ‘ A man he was to all the country dear, 

And passing rich with forty pounds a year. 

Remote from town he ran his goodly race, 

Nor e’er had changed nor wished to change his place.’ 

“ He was the son of Rev. Thomas Thacher, settled for many years over 
the Old South Church in Boston. Mr. Thacher was graduated at Harvard 
College, was classmate and chum of Judge Sewall, and his most intimate 
friend through life. Immediately after his graduation he became tutor and 
then trustee of the college. After spending a year in Europe he entered 
upon his ministry at 29 years of age. He was at first a candidate for the 
pulpit at Barnstable, where he had many warm friends ; but, being strongly 
opposed by Gov. Hinckley, a very contentious individual, with whom it 
was impossible to be on peaceful terms, he accepted a call to the Milton 
pulpit. On the day of the departure of himself and family from Barn¬ 
stable, he was followed by a cavalcade of 57 horses as far as Sandwich. 
He remained in Milton all the rest of his life, dying after a pastorate of 46 
years. He was in the habit of beginning the day by reading two or three 




MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


251 


chapters from the Greek Testament and attending to his horse and cow, — 
for he could hire no servant on his scanty salary of $350 a year, a third 
only of which was paid in money, the rest in labor and farm produce. 
In his diary are such entries as follows: ‘ Joshua Tucker gave me one 
day’s plowing;’ again, ‘James Yose sent me half a sheep.’ ‘Widow 
Willet gave me a peck of carrots, verily, the widow’s mite.’ On the 
Monday of which I speak, he entered his study after performing his various 
duties, charging Mrs. Thacher, as he left her, not to allow him to be in¬ 
terrupted unless from the most urgent necessity. He was obliged to write 
an ordination sermon, to be delivered the next day at Danvers, and he had 
but scant time to complete it. Soon after his entrance into the study a 
woman visited the kitchen, where Mrs. Thacher was busy, and begged to 
see the minister. She was told that Mr. Thacher could not be seen ; he 
was writing. ‘ But,’ said the woman, ‘ this is a very pressing ease. I 
must tell him of the quarrel between Mr. Rawson and Mr. Trescott, and 
Mr. Rawson declares he will go to Boston to get a lawyer to settle it. 
The trouble is that Trescott’s cows have broken into Rawson’s field and 
trampled down his corn, and Trescott only laughs in his face, and tells 
him to help himself if he can, and, to irritate him still more, the sons of 
Trescott hoot after him in the road. Rawson says he will bear it no longer, 
but make Trescott pay for it.’ Mrs. Thacher thought this so hard a case 
that she would take courage to open Mr. Thacher’s study-door to tell him 
of the hostile attitude of his two neighbors toward each other. Mr. 
Thacher looked up from his sermon, saying he had not time to attend to 
it then, but he was going to make a prayer at a house-raising in the after¬ 
noon, and he would call at Rawson’s on his way. He resumed the thread 
of his discourse when left to himself, and was growing very vehement 
over the sins of the Jews, when a man entered the kitchen in great ex¬ 
citement, and demanding to see Mr. Thacher His wife protested against 
interrupting him. ‘But,’ said the man, ‘this is a very serious case; 
Lem Gulliver’s cow is terrible sick. She is stretched on the ground and 
cannot be moved, and they are afraid she is dying. She is a good milker 
and a nice cow, and Mr. Thacher must go and cure her. The horse- 
doctor, Henshaw, is looking at her, but he cannot find out what the matter 
is.’ Mrs. Thacher thought this too momentous a case to be neglected; 
so she again opened the study-door to get advice from her husband. Mr. 
Thacher promised to visit the cow on his way to the house-raising, and 
again composed himself to his work. But he was soon interrupted a 
third time by his wife with a sad story of a man from Canton, who was 
hauling a load of potash kettles to Boston, and the heavy weight had 
broken his axle, and the poor fellow’s cart was stuck fast in the mud. 
The parson said the man must put his own shoulder to the wheel before 
he could obtain aid from him. He sent the man word that he could find 
a box of tools in the barn, and behind the house there was a young hickory 
tree. He could take the rule and measure the stick for another axle, and 
by the time the axle was ready he would be on hand to help him put the 
wheel on to it. Then Mr. Thacher continued his sermon in blissful 
peace till 12 o’clock, when he was called to dinner, after which he set out 
for the house-raising. On his way he called at Rawson’s, who showed him 
the hills of corn badly trampled down by Trescott’s cows. The minister 
crossed the road to beg Mr. Trescott to come out and look at the damaged 
cornfield of his neighbor. The sight of Mr. Thacher’s calm and kindly 
face softened the heart of Trescott, and he willingly went to look at the 
downtrodden corn. The parson asked Mr. Rawson what he would deem a 
fair compensation for the damage. After due deliberation it was decided 
that a pistareen — 20 cents — would make good his loss. Mr. Trescott 


252 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


cheerfully returned to his house for his leather hag, and drawing forth the 
pistareen, — a good deal of money in those days, — gave it to Mr. Rawson. 
Then the disputants shook hands and became friends. 

“Mr. Thacher soon after reached the prostrate cow, 'where quite a 
crowd had assembled, but all were utterly powerless to help the poor 
creature. The crowd gave way for Mr. Thacher, who speedily saw that 
the cow might be fit for the beef-barrel, but would never walk again. 
He ordered a stout stick to be placed under the animal, to pry her up, and 
the fore leg of the cow was found to be broken. After ordering her to be 
killed, Mr. Thacher proceeded on his way to the house-raising. There 
he met a crowd in great consternation over the body of a man who had 
fallen from a cross-beam, and was lying insensible upon the ground. 
They feared the man was dead. Mr. Thacher took out his lancet and 
bled him, when he soon opened his eyes and gradually gained conscious¬ 
ness. When quiet was restored Mr. Thacher made a prayer, chatted and 
shook hands with the men, and mounted his horse to ride home. On his 
way back he saw Rawson waiting at his gate with a nice leg of bacon in 
his hand. He stopped the parson, and begged him to allow him to put the 
bacon in his saddle-bag in consideration of his kindness in settling his 
difficulty; ‘ for,’ said Rawson, 4 it would be very foolish for me to pay 
a Boston lawyer to help me quarrel with my neighbor.’ A few steps 
farther on he saw Trescott standing in the road. Said the parson to 
Trescott: 4 1 wish you would put a stone in my other saddle-bag to 
balance this leg of bacon.’ — 4 Oh, no,’ replied Trescott, 4 1 cannot put 
a stone into your bag when I have something much better to put there,’ 
— whereupon he produced a large cheese, saying, 4 Please take that for 
your kindness to me.’ Thus Mr. Thacher proceeded home with both 
saddle-bags full. When he reached his house he met his wife a few steps 
from the door. She was in saddened spirits over the arrival of the min¬ 
isters from Stoughton and Randolph. She said there was nothing for 
supper, and she was in despair. ‘Milk and eggs are all I have in the 
house,’ she gloomily said. 4 Oh, well,’ replied Mr. Thacher, 4 the eggs 
fried with this nice bacon will make an excellent supper — added to 
the milk and cheese.’ Mrs. Thacher entered the house with a light heart, 
and, after a good supper, the parson closeted himself to complete his 
sermon, but just as he got to his ninthly, the man who had made the new 
axle impatiently rapped at his door, saying that he was waiting for Mr. 
Thacher to help him mend his cart. The minister acknowledged that the 
various duties had driven the unfortunate cartman out of his mind, hastened 
to his assistance, got the cart on to the wheels and fckeered the man on his 
way to Boston with his load of kettles. Without further interruption the 
good man was enabled to proceed with his sei’mon up to its thirteenthly. 
The next day the three ministers cheerfully set out for Danvers, and the 
oi'dination sermon seemed all the richer and more flowing for its many 
obstacles. The minister was indeed one who was — 

“ 4 In his duty prompt at every call; 

He watch’d and wept, he pray’d and felt for all.’ ” 

44 Francesca.” 


THE END OF HIS LONG MINISTRY. 

Mr. Thacher continued to meet all the requisitions of his 
office, and to perform the varied duties devolved upon him, 
even in the advanced period of life to which he was spared. 




MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


253 


On the tenth of the month which was the Sabbath, he preached both parts 
of the day, performed the domestic sacrifices with the repetition of the ser¬ 
mons in the evening. Upon which, finding himself weary, he said, “We 
read in a certain place, ‘ The prayers of David are ended: ’ what if it should 
now be said, the prayers of Peter are ended! ” It fell out accordingly. On 
the day following, a lever seized him, and the next Sabbath ended with 
him in his everlasting rest. 1 

Recovering out of a short cloud upon the clear use of reason he called 
for his domestics, and for a staff to lean upon. So sitting up, he blessed each 
of them and made a most pathetic and audible prayer with them and for 
them. And then lying down his last words were the words of a conqueror 
and more than a conqueror, “ I am going to Christ in glory.” Thus his 
purified spirit flew away to the chambers of a Redeemer waiting to be 
gracious. 2 


FUNERAL. 

Judge Samuel Sewall gives the following account of the 
funeral of Mr. Thacher: — 

Lord’s Day Dec. 17, 1727. I was surprised to hear Mr. Thacher of Mil- 
ton, my old friend, prayedfor as dangerously sick, next day I was informed 
by Mr. Gerrish that my dear friend died last night, which I doubt bodes ill 
to Milton and the Province, his dying at this time, though in the seventy- 


1 Mather. 

2 The following obituary notice, written by a Milton citizen, appeared in the “ Boston 
Weekly Journal,” Dec. 23, 1727 : — 

“ About midnight after the last Lord’s Day deceased here the Rev. Peter Thachei', M.A., 
the first settled minister of this church and town, in the forty-seventh year of his pastorate, 
and seventy-seventh of his age. He was a son of the Rev. Mr. Thomas Thacher, the first 
pastor of t he South Church in Boston. His mother was daughter to the Rev. Mr. Ralph 
Patridge, of Duxbury. He was born at Salem in 1651. Was a pious, prayerful youth, and 
in his early days he met with a very great deliverance. Falling down before the open 
fiood-gate of a water-mill a going, he was drawn into the sluice and carried thro’ between 
the pads of the wheel, without being hurt. 

“ He took his first degree at Cambridge in 1671, and we suppose his 2d in 1674, being in 
the same classes with the present Honorable Judge Sewall. After which he was chosen 
and for some years served as a fellow and tutor at the College. 

“ As for his character. — He was a person of eminent sanctity, of a most courteous and 
complaisant behavior; cheerful, affable, humble and free of speech to the meanest he met 
with. He had a great deal of vivacity in his natural genius : which, being tempered with 
grace and wisdom, appeared very engaging both in his common converse and public per¬ 
formances. 

“ In his ordinary conversation there was a vein of piety, agreeably mingled with enter¬ 
taining turns and passages, an air of freedom and cheerfulness, that made it very easy and 
pleasant in every company. 

“ He was a very Evangelical preacher, delighted in commending Christ to his hearers, 
and was always earnestly endeavouring to win us over to admire and love him. He was 
a zealous asserter of the purity and liberty of our Evangelical churches. He accounted 
that only to be pure religion which is purely scriptural. And in no other form of church 
order could he see the liberty of the people preserved as in that of his country. 

“ He was greatly concerned for this noble interest, the chief design of our excellent 
fathers hither: tho’ he was full of Catholic pity and charity lor those of other opinions, 
and he was much improved in Ecclesiastical councils. 

“ It was his constant prayer that he might not outlive his usefulness; and God was pleased 
very graciously to hear him, his vigour and intellectural abilities remaining fresh to the 
last. The Lord’s day before he died he preached both parts of the day; and in the after¬ 
noon from Luke 14: 22. ‘ Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.’ 
And he was never known to be more enlarged, fervent, lively and affectionate than in this 
his farewell to his dear people. 

“ On the Monday he was seized with a fainting. He was thirty-six hours a dying, tho’ 
without much pain; and his last words were, ‘ I am going to Christ in glory.’ ” 



254 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


seventh year of his age. Dens revertat omen l This day after the fast, 
he was interred. Bearers.—Rev. Nehemiah Walker, Mr. Joseph Baxter, 
Mr. John Swift, Mr Samuel Hunt, Mr. Joseph Sewell, Mr. Thomas Prince. 
I was inclined before, and having a pair of gloves sent me, I determined to 
go to the funeral if the weather proved favorable, which it did, and I hired 
Blake’s coach with four horses. My son, Mr. Cooper and Mr. Prince went 
with me, — refreshed them with meat and drink, got thither at half past 
one. I rode in my coach to the burying-place, not being able to get nearer 
by reason of the many horses. Mr. Walter prayed before the corpse was 
carried out. Had gloves and ring given me. Mr. Miller of the Church of 
England was there. At this funeral I heard of the death of my good friend, 
Capt. Nat. Niles. 

I have now been at the funerals of four of my classmates. 

WORKS. 

1. Artillery Election Sermon, 1695. 

2. Unbelief Detected and Condemned, etc., 1708. 

3. The Al-sufficient Physician, preached before His Excel¬ 
lency, the Governor, the Honorable Council, and Representatives 
of the Massachusetts Bay, May 30,1711, from the text Isa. 57: 18. 

4. Christ’s Forgiveness of True Christians, 1712. 

5. Perpetual Covenant, a sermon to young men, 1713. 

6. Funeral Sermon on the Rev. Samuel Man, Wrentham, 1720. 

7. A Divine Riddle, 1722. 

8. Sermon at the Anniversary Convention of Ministers met 
in Boston, May 27, 1724. 


THE TAYLOR FAMILY. 

Thomas Taylor was born in Wales, where he was long 
settled as a clergyman. 

His son Richard came to New England, engaged in trade at 
Boston, and died there in 1673. At his decease he bequeathed 
legacies to the Old Brick and Old South churches. 

By his wife Mary he had one son, John, born the 2d and 
baptized the 6th of February, 1647. John married Ann 
Winslow, grand-daughter of Edward Hutchinson, and daughter 
of Edward Winslow. He died at Jamaica. She died in Milton, 
1773, aged 95 years. 

In 1769, when she was in the ninety-second year of her age, 
she related the following historical facts respecting her family to 
her grandson, Winslow Taylor, son of William Taylor and Faith 
(Winslow), which have been copied verbatim from his own 
manuscript by Elizabeth Cheever Taylor Robbins, of West 
Medway, and kindly furnished for insertion here. 1 

i Memorials of my progenitors, taken by Winslow Taylor, as related by my grand¬ 
mother, Madam Ann Winslow, September, 1769. 






MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


255 


Ann Winslow was born the 7th of August, and was baptized 
the 8th of December, 1578. This was the year before Mary 
Chilton Winslow died, and fifty-eight. years after the landing 
at Plymouth. Elizabeth Hutchinson, Ann’js mother, was born in 
1689. She was forty years contemporary with Mary Chilton, 
was her daughter-in-law for several years, and had the best 
opportunity to learn the truth of this statement. 

The testimony of Ann seems, therefore, sufficient to place it 
beyond question. 


REV. JOHN TAYLOR. 

Rev. John Taylor, son of John and Ann (Winslow), born 
1704, graduated at Harvard College 1721, being the classmate 
of Chief-Justice Stephen Sewall, as Peter Thacher was class¬ 
mate of Chief-Justice Samuel Sewall fifty years before. He 
died at Milton, Jan. 26, 1749. 


Mary Chilton was the first European female that landed on the North American shore. 
She came over with her father and mother and other adventurers to this new settlement. 
One thing worthy of notice is that her curiosity was so great of being the first on the 
shore, that she was prompted like a young heroine to leap from the boat and wade 
ashore. 

John Winslow, another early adventurer, married the said Mary Chilton, from whom 
have descended a numerous ancl respectable posterity. My grandmother, now living and 
who affords me these memoirs, is their last surviving grand-child, in the ninety-second year 
of her age. 

Edward Winslow remained in England. His sons who came over to New England 
were Edward, John, Kenelin, Gilbert, and Josiah. Edward Winslow, the son of John 
and Mary, was my grandmother Ann’s father. The maiden name of my grandmother’s 
grandmother was Catherine Hanly, of Old England. She died in New England. 

My grandmother’s grandfather was Edward Hutchinson. He was killed by the Indians 
at Brookfield Aug. 2, 1675. 

My great grandmother Winslow, the wife of Edward Winslow, was Elizabeth Hutch¬ 
inson. She died, aged 89. Edward Winslow’s first wife was Mary Hilton, by whom were 
John, Sarah and Mary. Edward Winslow’s second wife was Elizabeth Hutchinson, by 
whom were Edward, Catherine, Susannah, Elizabeth, and Ann. 

Thomas Taylor was born in the middle of Wales. He was a minister there. Richard, 
his son, came over to New England and died here. He left no other child than John 
Taylor, my grandfather. Mr. Richard Taylor having sustained a good character through 
life, was lamented in death. He bequeathed two handsome legacies to the Old Brick and 
the Old South churches in Boston. 

John Taylor, my grandfather, the son of the said Richard, died at Jamaica. 

My grandfather, John Taylor, married my grandmother, Ann Winslow, the youngest 
daughter of Edward, by whom was John Taylor, afterwards minister at Milton. He died 
in Milton, aged 45 years, lamented as a gentleman, scholar and Christian. Elizabeth, 
William (my father), Rebecca and Nancy were born in Jamaica. 

Kenelin Winslow, one of the first adventurers, brother of Edward and John, had 
Nathaniel, and Nathaniel had Kenelin (my grandfather). He married Abigail Water¬ 
man, by whom were Sarah, Abigail, Nathaniel, Faith, Kenelin and Joseph. 

My grandmother Taylor, whose maiden name was Ann Winslow, after the death of her 
first husband, married Kenelin Winslow the son of Nathaniel. 

William Taylor (my father), the son of John and Ann, married Faith, my mother, 
the daughter of Kenelin and Abigail, by whom was William, John, Abigail, Elizabeth, 
Winslow, Joseph and Joshua. He, William, afterwards married the widow of Abijah 
Savage, whose maiden name was Sarah Cheever, the daughter of Elizabeth Cheever, 
of Charlestown, by whom he had only William and Thomas; the latter was born in Milton, 
Sep. 1st, 1768. 

[Copied by Elizabeth Cheever Taylor Robbins.] 



256 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


He married, first, April 9, 1730, Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. 
Nathaniel Rogers, of Portsmouth. N.H., by whom he had John, 
born June 15, 1781; Ann, born July 16, 1732; Nathaniel, born 
March 4, 1733; and William, born April 8, 1735. She died in 
1735. 

He married a second time, Dorothy (Sherburne) (Rymes) 
(Rogers), widow of his first wife’s brother; she survived her 
husband, and -married a fourth time, Hon. Peter Gilman, of 
Exeter, N.H. 

His children by his second wife were Dorothy and Ann Sher¬ 
burne, also Edward Sherburne, baptized July 23, 1747. 

His daughter Ann married Nicholas Gilman, of Exeter, N.H., 
in 1752, and became the mother of the Hon. John Taylor Gil¬ 
man, for many years the worthy and patriotic governor of New 
Hampshire, and the ancestor of a long line of descendants, hon¬ 
ored and distinguished in the annals of our neighboring State 
and of our country. 

He was ordained pastor of the church in Milton Nov. 13, 
1728. Rev. Thomas Foxcroft, of Boston, preached the sermon. 

The controversy respecting the location of a new meeting¬ 
house, which had for years disturbed the church and town, had 
terminated. A new church edifice had been erected on Canton 
avenue, in front of the present Unitarian Church. Its size was 
fifty feet by forty, and twenty-eight feet high, with a belfry, in 
which the town voted to place “ a bel ” weighing three and one 
half cwt. “ grose.” 

The town voted that Mr. Taylor have the first choice of a place to 
build a pew for the ministry in the new meeting-house, and that his pew be 
built by the town. 

Here Mr. Taylor commenced his ministry of twenty-one 
years. 

The following sketch of his character is from Dr. Chauncy, 
his classmate and intimate friend : —- 

He and I were playmates when little boys, went to school together, were 
classmates at college, and all along till his death in close friendship and 
acquaintance with each other. 

He was an agreeable companion, and a friend that might be depended 
upon. His diffidence of himself and moderation of temper restrained him 
from preaching much from home, and produced in him a settled determina¬ 
tion that nothing of his should appear in the world. 

Upon his dying, he left his papers with me, with a positive charge that I 
should take the first opportunity after his death to commit them to the 
flames; which I did. 

He had a clear head, and his sentiments and expressions were rather 
soft and persuasive, than strong and nervous. Few men were more uni¬ 
versally loved while they lived, and lamented when dead. 





MINISTERS OF MILTON 


257 


Rev. Thomas Thacher speaks of him “ as remarkable for his 
high rank in the republic of letters, for his uniform virtues, and 
elegant social manners.” 

He entered upon his work here at the age of twenty-five and 
died at the age of forty-six, filling the pastoral office for twenty- 
one years. 

The following touching entry is found in the records of the 
church: — 

The Rev. Mr. John Taylor, after above twenty years of eminent service 
in the ministerial office in the town of Milton, died on the twenty-sixth 
of January, 1750. 

Blessed and foi'ever happy are they which die in the Lord, as well as 
those who die for the Lord. 

During his ministry he came into possession of a tract of 
land near the meeting-house, either by purchase, or, as some 
suppose, to clear up arrearages of salary, and erected a house, 
which stood where our Town Hall now stands; here he lived 
and died. This house was occupied by descendants of his 
family until it was burned, Sept. 22, 1864. A portion of the 
land is now the property of the town of Milton, embracing the 
site of the Town Hall and other buildings of the town. 

The remaining portion of the land is owned by the following 
individuals, and is occupied by their residences, — Rev. Calvin 
G. Hill, Mr. Joseph O. Osgood, Rev. William P. Tilden, Mr. 
George T. Tilden, and Dr. John Littlefield. 


REV. NATHANIEL ROBBINS. 

Nathaniel Robbins was the second of the seven sons of Thomas 
Robbins, of West Cambridge, where he was born April 17,1726. 
Here he passed his youth and fitted for college. He graduated 
at Harvard in the class of 1747, and completed his theological 
studies at Cambridge, under the direction of Rev. Samuel 
Cooke of his native parish. 

On the 13th of February, 1751, Nathaniel Robbins, in the 
twenty-fourth year of his age, was ordained pastor of the Milton 
church, and died among the people of his first and only charge, 
May 19, 1795, aged sixty-nine years, after a pastorate of forty- 
five years. 

Rev. Thomas Thacher thus characterizes his preaching: — 

He refused to call any man master, or to sacrifice truth to prevailing 
opinions, however conducive to popularity, to consideration and conse¬ 
quence. Such candor and liberal sentiments were the more deserving of 




258 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


praise, since in the first periods of his ministry such a spirit and temper 
were not common. His stability preserved this church from those divisions 
and separations arising from the fumes of enthusiasm and a fanatic spirit 
which in those days too much prevailed and ruined some of the most 
respectable Christian societies of the land. 

His manner of preaching was plain and pathetic; he appeared to have a 
dislike to a florid style, to false ornaments, and to affectations of literature. 

In 1752 lie purchased of the heirs of Anthony Gulliver the 
estate on Canton avenue, now owned by Col. H. S. Russell, 
and soon after built the house now standing near the street; 
here he lived and carried on his great and good work through 
the tumultuous period of the Revolution. Wisdom character¬ 
ized his actions. His words soothed the despondencies and 
troubles, and allayed the passions, of the times; his counsel 
settled differences of policy and feeling. 

A settlement of <£1,000, old tenor, equal to -$500, and an 
annual salary of £500 or $250, with twenty-five cords of wood 
per annum, were voted him by the town. 

His dwelling was the abode of patriotism, hospitality, kind¬ 
ness, and Christian charity. Residing on a much-frequented 
country road, over which passed all the travel between Taun¬ 
ton and the intervening towns and Boston, his house was the 
resort of many from neighboring towns seeking advice and 
encouragement. 

The warm-hearted pastor of Milton welcomed all, and sent 
them away with a benediction. 

In 1775 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Hutch¬ 
inson of Boston, brother of Gov. Thomas Hutchinson’s father. 
Her father for many years was Judge of Probate for Suffolk 
County, and Treasurer of Harvard College from 1726 until his 
death in 1752. 

Mr. Robbins had two sons and one daughter. The daughter 
died August 31, 1786, unmarried, at the age of twenty-seven 
years. His youngest son, Nathaniel Johnson, was a graduate of 
Harvard College in 1784, and died May 7,1799, aged thirty-three. 
The wife of Mr. Robbins died May 2, 1793, aged sixty-two. 

Edward Hutchinson Robbins, his eldest son, was a lawyer 
of much eminence. He was born at Milton, at the minister’s 
house, on Canton avenue, February 19, 1758; graduated at Har¬ 
vard in 1775, when eighteen years of age ; lived in Milton 
through a long life of active service in the town and in the 
Commonwealth, and died December 29, 1829. A record of his 
life-work is given under “ Lawyers of Milton.” 

Rev. Mr. Robbins was eminently faithful in meeting all 
pastoral duties. He acquainted himself with the condition of 



MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


259 


his people; became interested in all their interests, temporal 
and spiritual. The sick found in him a ministering spirit, the 
afflicted a comforter, the poor a ready and sympathizing 
helper. His house was the home of his parishioners, and there 
they loved to gather. 

The following incident shows the happy relation existing 
between the pastor and the youth of his charge; it is copied 
from the original manuscript without change : — 

Econimy & Industry hath so impressed the minds of the Country Young 
Ladies that it hath not only become the Fashion to Cl oath themselves in 
their own Manufactory, but they are Ambitious that their Ministers should 
set the Laudable Example. 

For that Purpose there was a Specimen of which Elegantly displayed on 
May the 18 th 1769. At the Rev. Mr. Nathaniel Robbins in Milton, where 
there was a Number assembled befour the Sun had shed around its Radiant 
Beams & at 7 oclock there was Seventy five Wheels agoing & in all Eighty 
Three; they spent the day chearful & diligent, and retired from their de¬ 
lightful Employment as the Sun retired from the Horizon, very decent & 
pretty, and what was Spun and presented made Four hundred & Sixty 
Skains Excluding Tow. 

About half of them Spun their Yarn at the Rate of 140 Knots to the pound 
which was done incomparably well as Sixty Weight of the Flax was of 
Mr. Robbins own Raising. 

But what gave a Luster to their Brilliant appearance was to see so many 
Pretty Misses chiefly equiped in the Attire of their own make, which made 
them cut a most Beautiful Figure, and to View their Dexterity and the ex¬ 
act Order in which their Wheels were ranged made a grand Show and a 
very gay Appearance, which even charmed the Spectators and merited 
from them large Enconiums, and their Noble Performances entitled them 
to Singular Honours in which every one expressed his highest satisfaction. 

Such Industrious Females are a public Benefit and ought to he Encour¬ 
aged since in a great Measure it depends upon the Frugality of the fair Sex 
to save a decaying state, which by due Encouragement in a little time will 
be a Rival of any of the European Spinners. 

Such fair Damsels cant but merit Applause, 

Which are so zealous in so good a cause, 

From every Gentleman that doth desire, 

That his Country might live and not expire, 

Which are so ready and willing to do, 

To save a Sinking state and the Young men too. 

So much chear the Heart in this day of Distress, 

To see their Industry and Sprightfulness. 

How pleasing to hear, but more so to see, 

How the Daughters & Sons of Freedom agree. 1 


1 About this time associations under the title of “ Sons of Liberty ” were formed all over 
the country, to oppose the unjust and arbitrary measures of the British government. 
They included both sexes. The members denied themselves the use of all foreign articles 
of clothing; carding, spinning, and weaving became the daily employment of women of 
fashion; sheep were forbidden to be used as food, lest there should not be found a suffi¬ 
cient supply of wool. To be dressed in a suit of homespun was a sure passport to popular 
favor. 



260 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Mr. Robbins was appointed by the town of Milton to attend 
the convention which adopted the Federal Constitution, 1788. 
He was an active and ardent worker in the Revolutionary 
struggle. Two of his brothers were in Capt. Parker’s Com¬ 
pany at Lexington, on the 19th of April. 

In the later years of his ministry the present Unitarian meet¬ 
ing-house was built. At a town meeting, Oct. 3, 1785, it was 
voted to build a new meeting-house, sixty-six by fifty-two. The 
house was completed three years after the first action of the 
town, and was dedicated Jan. 1, 1788, costing $5,600. 

For this important occasion Mr. Robbins was presented with 
a new horse-hair wig and a black gown. The house stood 
lengthwise toward Canton avenue, the front facing southerly. 
At a later period it was placed in its present position, and 
otherwise improved. Thus the meeting-house has an antiquity 
of one hundred years. 

In the new church Mr. Robbins passed the last eight years 
of his life, departing to his rest on the 19th of May, 1795. 
“ Like as a shock of corn cometh in his season.” 

1 Mr. Robbins preached every Sabbath in Jan. Feb. and March, and also 
on a day of Thanksgiving, Feb. 19 th . 

The last time he preached was April 2, 1795, on a Fast Day, his text was 
Ps. 51, 17 — “ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and con¬ 
trite heart, O God. thou wilt not despise.” 

After this Fast day there was no meeting for three Sabbaths. April 26 th . 
Mr. Cotton preached. May 3 rd . Mr. Thomas Thacher of Dedham. May 
10 th . Mr. Withington. On Tuesday the 19 th . of May, Mr. Robbins died. 

The funeral was from the meeting-house. Mr. Jackson made a prayer. 
Mr. Haven of Dedham preached from Rev. 14: 15 : — 

And I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me — write Blessed are the 
dead which die in the Lord from henceforth, Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may 
rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. 

Mr. Thomas Thacher made the closing prayer. 

On the following Sabbath, May 24, Mr. Thacher of Dedham preached 
from John, 14: & 11: 35. 

This sermon was printed and can be found in a volume of 
Milton Documents in our Public Library. 


REV. JOSEPH McKEAY. 

After the lapse of two years and six months Mr. Joseph 
McKean, of Boston, was ordained, Nov. 1, 1797. Several clergy¬ 
men had been heard as candidates, among whom was the Rev. 
Dr. Pierce, afterwards the revered and honored pastor at Brook¬ 
line for half a century. So great was the attachment to Dr. 


1 Hannah Vose’s Diary. 





MINISTERS OF MILTON 


261 


Pierce that the church extended to him an unanimous call for 
settlement; but the parish refused to conform, it is said, for 
political reasons. 

Mr. McKean was born in Ipswich, in the eventful year of 
1776. His father soon after moved to Boston, where Josepd 
entered the public schools. At the age of eleven he was placeh 
with Dr. Pemberton at Andover, who prepared him for college. 

He entered Harvard College in 1790, where he took high 
rank as a scholar, particularly in mathematics, and graduated 
in 1794. He engaged for three years as teacher in Berwick and 
Ipswich academies, at the same time pursuing study, with the 
ministry in view, under Dr. Joseph Dana, of Ipswich, and Dr. 
John Elliot, of Boston. He was licensed by the Boston Asso¬ 
ciation, and soon after was invited to supply the Milton pulpit, 
made vacant by the death of Mr. Robbins. 

The natural brightness of his character, blended with a bold 
and impassioned eloquence, drew around him many friends and 
admirers. He was solicited to become pastor of the Milton 
church, and, after long hesitation and many fears, he was pre¬ 
vailed upon to accept. He assumed the charge of this church 
before he had reached the age of twenty-two years. 1 Rev. 
Mr. Elliot of Boston preached the ordination sermon from the 
text, 2 Peter i. 5: “ To virtue, knowledge.” 

Dr. Peter Thacher, of Brattle-street Church, Boston, and Rev. 
Thomas Thacher, of Dedham, were members of the ordaining 
council. The charge was given by Rev. Mr. Haven, of Dedham, 
and the right hand of fellowship by Rev. Thaddeus Mason 
Harris, of Dorchester. 


1 Bill of Fare for the Ordination of Mr. Joseph McKean November the first 1797- 


D C. 

60 lb. Tui-keyS.7 „ 50 

36 lb. Geese ... . 3 — 

48 lb. Fowls.6 — 

36 lb. Ollemote Beef ..3 — 

30 lb. Beacon.5 — 

40 lb. Boast Beef.4 — 

12 lb. Cheese.• • 2 — 

30 lb Butter..6 — 

28 lb Flower.1 „ 75 

12 lb Baisins.• • 1 ,, 50 

Bread.6 — 

Sider ..2 — 


D. C. 

6 Doz Eggs ... 1 — 

6 Gall 8 Bran v & W. I. Bum ... 12 — 

10 Gall 8 Wi e.10 — 

6 Doz n Lemmons.3 — 

Wood Coal & Candles.3 ,, 50 

H Bush 1 Apples.1 ,, 50 

Milk, Bose water Spices Sweet 

Hei'bs Celery & Oil.5 ,, 25 

Mustard Vegetables Pipes & To¬ 
bacco .2 ,, 50 

Crockery, ware, Glasses, Knives & 

Foi-ks.S — 

Boards, Table making, Hay, and 
attending horses, . . .... .15 — 


M r .John Swift agi’eed to provide & 
cook the above Bill of Fare for One 
Hundred and Fifty Dollars 


0n6. 

John Swift 1 

Joseph Vose 

Daniel Briggs } Committee . 

Elijah Vose 

John Crehore June j 

























262 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


On the following Sabbath, in the morning, Mr. McKean 
preached from the text, Jer. i. 6 : “ Then said I, Ah! Lord 

God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child.” And in the 
afternoon on the text, Acts xx. 24. 

He entered upon his ministry under the most favorable 
auspices, and was beloved and honored by most of those to 
whom he ministered. But the times were troublous. Political 
lines were sharply drawn. Not unfrequently members of the 
same family were arrayed against each other in bitter opposi¬ 
tion. The youthful pastor was a pronounced and decided 
Federalist; 1 2 he was positive in his views and sharp in his rebuke 
of all who opposed him. He was full of wit and merriment, 
and yet utterly fearless in asserting and maintaining wdiat 
seemed to him right and just; while at the same time a dis¬ 
cerning and cultivated understanding in a measure chastened 
the passions with which nature had fired him. 

As a consequence some of his hearers of opposite opinions 
became impatient and restive under his pointed preaching. 
Thus the young man, naturally of a delicate physical organiza¬ 
tion, overborne by vexatious cares and prostrated by exhaustive 
labors, was forced to seek relief by a temporary absence. 

April 7, 1803, we find the following record: — 

A fast to-day, no meeting, Mr. McKean is so unwell. 

During the winters of 1803-4 he visited Savannah, Ga., and 
passed six months in that salubrious climate, preaching during 
his absence on one occasion only, “ which gave great satisfaction 
to the people.” Returning from the South to his Milton parish 
in the summer of 1804, still feeble, he resumed his duties here, 
and again attempted to meet the requisition made upon him as 
pastor. .The result was entire prostration. He was compelled 
to relinquish his charge, and after a ministry of about seven 
years he was dismissed, Sept. 30, 1804. 

2 July 15, and Aug. 12, Mr. McKean preached in Milton. Aug. 26 he 
prayed at Sacrament. Sept. 30, Mr. McKean preached from Num. 6. 24, a 
farewell sermon. 

Oct. 13, 1804. A day of fasting and prayer on account of separation 
of Mr. McKean from the church. 


1 It is said that Dr. McKean wore a black Federal cockade on his hat, and when he 
entered his pulpit was careful to place his hat in sight with the cockade turned toward the 
congregation. The Democrats ih the choir induced Elisha Field, who seldom attended 
church, to put his hat, with a white cockade on it, over the clock in front of the gallery. 
Of course this political opposition in the church attracted attention. On one occasion the 
Federal chorister reached over and knocked the Democrat’s hat to the floor, when a Fed¬ 
eralist below kicked it out of doors. 

2 Hannah Vose’s Diary. 




MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


263 


Dr. Lothrop of Boston, preached from 1 Thes. 5. 8-13. Dr. Elliot and 
Rev. Mr. Chickering, of West Dedham, prayed. 


PARSONAGE. 

In 1798 a parsonage was built on Canton avenue, opposite 
the Amory place, now owned by Col. H. S. Russell, and here 
Mr. McKean lived during bis ministry. 

Dr. Gile took possession of the parsonage when he moved to 
Milton, and finally purchased it of the parish. After the de¬ 
cease of Mrs. Gile it was sold by the heirs of Lewis Tucker, who 
married Mary P. Gile, to Col. B. S. Rotch, in whose possession 
the estate still remains. 

The house was three stories high, finished on the outside in 
stucco. It was taken down by Mr. Rotch in 1878. The cellar 
still remains, marking the residence of two of Milton’s pastors. 


DR. MCKEAN’S FAMILY. 

Mr. McKean married Amy Swasey, of Ipswich, in 1799, and 
left three sons,—Joseph William, Henry Swasey, and John 
George. They all graduated at Harvard College, and were 
young men of uncommon promise and ability. They died in 
early manhood. 

One of his daughters married Joseph E. Worcester, LL.D., 
and another, Charles Folsom, of Cambridge. 


CHURCH RECORDS. 

Mr. McKean gathered up the scattered fragments of Milton 
Church Records, and rescued them from oblivion. But for 
him they would have been irrevocably lost. 

With him commenced the first systematic entries of the 
doings of the church, and from his day, with some exceptions, 
the records have been fairly kept. 

SUBSEQUENT LIFE. 

After leaving Milton Mr. McKean passed a year at the West 
Indies, where his health was greatly improved. He returned 
and engaged in teaching in Boston, and also represented Bos¬ 
ton in the Legislature for two sessions. 

He declined an appointment as Professor of Mathematics at 
Harvard College, and also a call to succeed Dr. West as pastor 
of Hollis-street Church, Boston. Invited a second time by Har- 


264 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


yard to a professorship, doubtless more congenial with his 
inclinations, he accepted, and was inaugurated as the successor 
of Hon. John Quincy Adams, in the department of Oratory, in 
the fall of 1809. 

He was honored with the degrees of LL.D., conferred upon 
him by Princeton College, and of D.D., by Alleghany College 
of Pennsylvania. 

His career at Harvard was brief, but bright and glorious; 
warned by failing health, he determined upon a visit to Ha¬ 
vana, but immediately on his arrival there “ he was seized 
with a general debility, accompanied by alarming symptoms, 
from which he not even obtained temporary relief. He was 
kindly invited to the house of Mr. Samuel Curson, formerly of 
Boston, from whose family he received those affectionate and 
unremitted attentions which were calculated to soothe and com¬ 
fort his last hours.” He died at Havana in 1818, at the early 
age of forty-two years. 1 

Rev. N. L. Frothingham, in a funeral sermon, at Boston, 
April 19,1818, gives the following estimate of his character: — 


Dr. McKean was distinguished by a quickness, an ardour and intense¬ 
ness of feeling, which combined, as it was, with the greatest delicacy of 
perception, an uncommon sweetness of temper, and a tender heart, made 
him eminently useful in everything to which his attention was directed, 
and to his friends rendered him inexpressibly dear. 

That bis was a soul of fire is sufficiently understood even by those who 
know him but by fame ; but none except such as were familiar with him 
can appreciate those mild and kind qualities of his which tempered the 
bolder, keener constituents of his decisive character. He lies in a strange 
land. The last rites of respect and kindness were offered at his sick-bed 
and his tomb by the hands of those on whom he had only the common 
claims of humanity. 

God reward them for all the affectionate sympathy and ceaseless care 
with which they endeavored to supply the place of the absent ones who 
were nearest to his heart, and smoothe his descent to the narrow house. 


1 By the grave of Dr. McKean stands a monumental stone bearing the following in¬ 
scription : — 

Beliquiae hie repostae sunt 
Joseph McKeax 

V.D.M. S.T.D. et L.L.D. Bhet, et Orat. Professoris 
in Universitate Harvardiana 
Cantabrigiae Nov. Anglorum 
iEtatis 42 
Alieni! 

Parcite huie lapidi sacro! 

Cineres honorate 
Viri 

celeberrimi, optimi carissimi. 




MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


265 


WORKS. 

Dr. McKean 1 published six sermons; Memoir of Rev. John 
Eliot, S. T. D; addition to Wood’s Continuation of Dr. Gold¬ 
smith’s “ History of England.” 


REV. SAMUEL GILE. 

After a vacancy of two years and four months, Rev. Samuel 
Gile, of Plaistow, N.H., was ordained, Feb. 18, 1807. Rev. Mr. 
Kendall preached from Rev. ii. 10: “ Be thou faithful unto 
death and I will give you a crown of life.” Rev. Mr. Wads¬ 
worth, of Danvers, gave the charge, and Rev. Mr. Bates, of Ded¬ 
ham, the right hand of fellowship. 

Mr. Gile’s first sermons on the Sabbath after ordination were 
on the text, John xxi. 16. 

Mr. Gile was born^n Plaistow, July 23, 1780; graduated at 
Dartmouth College, 1804, and married Mary Henley White, 


1 The following lines written at the time of his death have been found among the 
papers of one of his old Milton admirers : — 

ON THE DEATH OF PROF. M C KEAN. 

Oh, mourn not for the good who die, " 

For goodness has a home on high; 

And tears which fall when saints depart 
Refresh religious soil, the heart. 

Oh, weep not that the staff is gone 
Which aged Israel rested on. 

Oh, weep not that he sleeps afar, — 

The world is one wide Machpelah. 

Oh, weep not that his body must 
Be trodden down like common dust. 

But weep that there remain behind 
Iso traces of the mighty mind. 

How few who lived have dared to think, 

How few who think have dared to do ! 

Oh, weep, then, that a soul should sink 
Who boldly thought and acted too. 

How seldom rays that reach the earth 
Bear impress of their heavenly birth; 

Then who from sorrow can refrain 
That Heaven absorbs such rays again ? 

How few created minds have soared 
Above the height before explored! 

How few will reach the height he dared, 

Oh, weep then that he was not spared ! 

Go, mark the comet’s bright career, 

And trace it’s track when it is gone, 

Say when another will appear 
And you may bid us cease to mourn. 




266 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


daughter of Isaac White, Esq., Salem. He was the second son 
of Major Ezekiel Grile, of Plaistow, an officer of good reputation 
for bravery in the Revolutionary war. Ezekiel Gile was born in 
Plaistow, and his father was a descendant of Samuel Gile, one 
of the ninety-one grantees of the town of Newbury, Mass., and 
one of the company who, with Rev. Mr. Ward, settled the 
town of Haverhill in 1640. 

“ Old Master Gile,” once known in Essex County as a veteran 
school-teacher, a large, portly gentleman, the terror of all the 
* urchins in the region, was an older bfother of Dr. Gile. 

Like his brother, Dr. Gile was possessed of stately propor¬ 
tions, and by his courtly manners and dignified presence in¬ 
spired attention and respect. 

He was distinguished for his appropriate, perspicuous, and 
affectionate exhibition of divine truth. He applied the gospel 
to the daily duties and minute concerns of life. He was gifted 
with peculiar power, richness, and fervor in prayer, bearing his 
congregation from earth to heaven, into the very presence of 
the all-seeing, all-gracious God. He was prudent and pacific, 
and thus was able for twenty-seven years to hold in check and 
control the agitations threatening the church and town. 

CONTROVERSIES. 

Two years after the settlement of Mr. Gile the controversy 
between Rev. John Codman and the Second Church in Dor¬ 
chester commenced, and resulted, after a long and grievous 
strife, in the separation of disaffected members from the church 
and pastor. 

Eleven years later the First Church in Dedham experienced 
a similar conflict. The elements of controversy and the leaven 
of change were working in many towns of our Commonwealth. 

As early as 1818 the question of doctrinal belief began to be 
agitated in the town of Milton. July 4, 1828, the First Uni¬ 
tarian Society was formed; it withdrew from the First Church 
and parish of Milton, and met in the Academy building, under 
the ministration of Rev. Charles C. Sewall. It consisted of 
members of the old parish who were not edified by Mr. Gile’s 
preaching, and were dissatisfied with the stand he took on the 
question of ministerial exchanges. After a time this move was 
deemed unwise by those who had engaged in it, and the First 
Unitarian Society was dissolved. The members who had with¬ 
drawn resumed their membership in the old parish, and pro¬ 
ceeded to assert and defend their rights as the majority. 

From year to year the struggle continued, and finally resulted 







266 


STOR 


daughter of 
of Major Eze 
for bravery ii 
Plaistow, an< 
of the ninety 
one of the c 
town of Haver 
“ Old Masl 
school-teache 
* urchins in th* 
Like his b 
tions, and by 
spired attenti 
He was di: 
affectionate e 
to the daily d 
with peculiar 
congregation 
the all-seeing 
and thus was 
control the ag 


Two years i 
between Rev. 
Chester comm 
strife, in the s< 
and pastor. 

Eleven year 
a similar confl 
of change wen 
As early as 1 
agitated in th 
tarian Society 
and parish of . 
the ministratic 
members of th 
preaching, and 
question of mu 
deemed unwise 
Unitarian Soci< 
drawn resume* 
ceeded to asser 
From year to t 


j OJV. 


; the sec 
crood re 


j grantees of the town of \ 
pany who, with Rev. Mr. W 
11 in 1640. 

Grile,’’once known in Essex ( 
•large, portly gentleman, the 
sgion, was an older brother ot 
tier. Dr. Gile was possessed o 
s courtly manners and digni; 
and respect. 

iguished for his appropriate, 
ibition of divine truth. He a| 
es and minute cone 


ness, ana fervor 
♦to heaven, into 


- the chui 


uel (rile, one 
v. Mass., and 
. -ettled the 

. as a veteran 
ot of all the 


• in- 

*spel 
fled 
r his 
e of 


CONTROVERSIES. 

:er the settlement of Mr. Gile the controversy 
ohn Codman and the Second Church in Dor- 
ced. and resulted, after a long and grievous 
Lira lion of disaffected members l'ro n the church 

later the First Church in Dedham experienced 
The elements of controversy and the leaven 
working in many towns of our < ommonwealth. 
18 the question of doctrinal belief began to be 
town of Milton. July 4, 1828,1: •• st Uni- 

as formed: it withdrew from the / o Church 
ilton, and met in the Academy tiulibuig, under 
of Rev. Charles'-C. Somali. Ii ’ ; •* ■! of 

old parish who were not edified 1 ; Mr. Gile’s 
pere dissatisfied with; the stand iic o- *:> on the 
sterial exchanges. After a time this move was 
by those who had engaged in it, and the First 
v was dissolved. The members who had with- 
their membership in the old parish, and pro- 

year struggle continued, anu finally resuueu 






MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


267 


in the dissolution of the pastoral relation between the parish 
and Dr. Gile, on the 20th of January, 1834. 

At this time all the members of the church, with the excep¬ 
tion of one lady, and a respectable minority of the parish fol¬ 
lowed the pastor to another place of worship. 

On the following Sabbath, Jan. 26, Rev. Mr. Sewall, of Med- 
field, preached in the church, and Dr. Cogswell, of Dedham, 
preached at the parsonage of Dr. Gile, where, also, services were 
held on the next Sabbath. Afterwards they removed to the 
Stone Church, East Milton. 

NEW MEETING-HOUSE. 

Steps were soon taken for the erecting of a new place of wor¬ 
ship in the central part of the town. 

Several acres of land east of the old church were donated by 
Nathaniel Tucker, and by the persistent efforts of the homeless 
flock, encouraged by the generous help of sympathizing friends, 
the meeting-house which now stands east of the old church 
was erected and dedicated free of debt. 


DEATH OF Dfi. GILE. 

Dr. Gile continued as pastor of the church now styled “ The 
First Evangelical Church,” in the new and pleasant house of 
worship to the completion of which he had so largely contrib¬ 
uted by his wise and persevering efforts, till the day of his 
death, Sunday, Oct. 16, 1836. In the morning of that day he 
was assisted by the Rev. Samuel Bumsted, who preached from 
the text, John xiv. 2: “In my Father’s house there are many 
mansions.” Dr. Gile participated in the service, offering prayer 
and reading the Scriptures, apparently in perfect strength and 
health. 

During the interval of worship he was stricken with apoplexy, 
and before the hour of the afternoon service his life was ended. 

Henceforth we have to record the progress of the two 
churches ranged side by side, and exerting their influence in the 
same community. 


RESULTS OF DIVISION. 

After much controversy, and many fruitless attempts at a 
division of the ministerial lands and church property, the 
whole passed into the possession of the parish, on the grounds 
that, in law, a church is a nonentity, and has no power to hold 
property. 


268 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


This position was fortified by the decision of the Supreme 
Court in the case of the Dedham church, where the protesting 
two-thirds of the church members seceded and demanded the 
church property. 

It was laid down in this decision : — 

That a church separating from a parish for any cause, lost its existence ; 
that never in Massachusetts had a church a legal existence apart from a 
parish. 

The law knew of parishes as corporations, and deacons as corporations, 
and ministers as corporations; but the church proper was no corporation or 
quasi corporation, and could not, therefore, hold property apart from the 
parish, whatever its faith. 

As is natural in such a case more or less ill feeling prevailed, 
and the lines of separation were sharply drawn. This, however, 
gradually passed away. In 1850 there was scarcely a remnant 
of this feeling manifest. The pastors of the churches were 
friends and brothers, and for forty years have labored together in 
the common field of duty with the utmost harmony and cordiality, 
each in his own way, but never in conflict one with the other. 

This kindly fraternal feeling increases with every passing 
year; so that if the scenes of fifty years ago were to be reenacted 
to-day, governed by the prevailing sentiment of the day, there 
would be no difference in judgment or feeling regarding the 
financial interest that then divided and perplexed the com¬ 
munity. 

REV. BENJAMIN HUNTOON. 

Rev. Benjamin Huntoon received a unanimous call, and was 
installed pastor of the First Congregational Church and Society, 
Oct. 15, 1834. 

Introductory prayer and reading of the Scriptures, Rev. 
George Putnam, of Roxbury. 

Prayer of installation by Rev. Peter Whitney, of Quincy. 

Sermon by Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris, D.D., of Dor¬ 
chester. 

Charge by Rev. John Pierpont, of Boston. 

Right hand of fellowship by Rev. Francis Cunningham, of 
Dorchester. 

Address to the people by Rev. Henry Ware, Jr., D.D., of 
Cambridge. 

Concluding prayer by Rev. John White, of West Dedham. 

One of the first acts after the induction of the pastor was the 
formation and announcement of a church. 

The creed to which the signatures of the members are affixed 
is recorded on blank leaves attached to a copy of the New 
Testament belonging to the church. 



MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


269 


Dec. 6, 1835. The old church, having been turned around 
and thoroughly repaired, was reopened and dedicated to the 
service of Almighty God. 

Rev. William P. Lunt, of Quincy, and Rev. Orestes Brownson, 
of Canton, assisted Mr. Huntoon in the services. 

The pastorate of Mr. Huntoon continued only for the short 
term of two years and eight months, when he was dismissed 
June 20, 1837, at his own request, to accept a call from the 
church in Cincinnati. 

Mr. Huntoon went from Milton to Cincinnati, Rev. Ephraim 
Peabody from Cincinnati to New Bedford, and Rev. Joseph 
Angier from New Bedford to Milton. Mr. Huntoon died in 
Canton, April 19, 1864. 


REV. JOSEPH ANGIER 

received a unanimous call to become pastor of this church, 
Aug. 7, 1837, and was installed Sept. 13, 1837. 

Rev. Caleb Stetson, of Medford, preached the installation 
sermon. Mr. Angier remained with the church for eight 
years. He was a man of rare qualities of heart and mind, 
genial, sympathizing, full of kindly feeling, and possessed of a 
high degree of culture. 

His pulpit services were fervent and attractive, characterized 
by a graceful and vigorous utterance, at times rising into fervid 
eloquence. He possessed a latent power drawn out by rare 
and special exigencies and occasions. 

In a company of townsmen, who were discussing the abilities 
of the clergymen in the two churches, the opinion was advanced 
that Mr. C. would surpass Mr. A. on special occasions. 

“Never,” was the reply, “if Mr. A. knows it.” 

Mr. Angier’s connection with the society was dissolved, June 
22, 1845, at his own request, and against the wishes of the 
people. 

He was succeeded by the 

REY. JOHN H. MORISON, 

who was installed Jan. 18, 1846, and whose long and useful 
pastorate remained unbroken for nearly forty years. 

After the continuous and faithful labor in the church and in 
the town of nearly twenty-five years, a part of which was passed 
in feeble health, he was relieved by the kindness of the church 
in associating with him, March 2, 1871, 


270 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


REV. FRANCIS T. WASHBURNE, 

a young man of excellent abilities and noble aspirations. His 
career was a short one ; scarcely had he begun the work ere the 
Master called him. He died in office, Dec. 29, 1873. 

REV. FREDERICK FROTHTNGHAM 

was installed as associate pastor, Oct. 8, 1876. 

He is still laboring in this vineyard, where the Master has 
placed him. 

In 1886 Dr. Morison resigned his position as senior pastor, 
and on the 23d of June Roderick Stebbins was ordained as 
junior pastor with Rev. Frederick Frothingham. Rev. T. C. 
Williams preached the sermon; Rev. Horatio Stebbins, D.D., 
father of the pastor elect, gave the charge, and Rev. Mr. Froth¬ 
ingham the right hand of fellowship. Henceforth the field is 
to be occupied by this united pastorate. May the reward of 
the faithful laborers be theirs ! 

FIRST EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 

At the death of Dr. Gile a call was extended to Rev. Samuel 
W. Cozzens, then pastor of the church in Marblehead, to 
become pastor of this church. Mr. Cozzens was installed, May 

24, 1837; he built the house now owned by Mr. G. S. Cushing. 
When he left Milton it was sold to Mr. Baldwin, March 

25, 1848. 

He was a faithful and earnest laborer, and rich blessings 
descended upon the people during his ministry. 

The events of these latter years are fresh in the memory of 
the living, and need not be recorded in full on the historic 
page. 

Dr. Cozzens remained pastor of the church for ten years, 
and then, at his own request, was dismissed, May 2, 1847, and 
removed to other fields of labor. 

In the summer of 1874 he left his parish in Plymouth, Mass., 
for the rest of a few weeks, and came to Milton, where he was 
prostrated by sickness from which he never rallied. 

He remained here, in the hospitable home of relatives, until 
a few weeks before his death, which occurred Aug. 7, 1875, 
and finally was borne hither for sepulture, and now lies en¬ 
tombed in our cemetery, among the people of his first love. 

After a lapse of about three years, during which time Rev. 
J. P. Leslie and several other clergymen performed the duties 
of the office, a call was extended to 



MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


271 


REV. ALBERT K. TEELE. 

Mr. Teele came to Milton from his pastorate at Naugatuck, 
Conn., in May, 1850, and removed his family hither in Septem¬ 
ber following. 

He was installed on the 18th of December, 1850. 

Rev. Dr. Kirk, of Boston, preached the sermon. 

Rev. Dr. Baker gave the charge to the pastor. 

Rev. Dr. J. M. Means, the right hand of fellowship. 

Rev. Dr. R. S. Storrs, the charge to the people. 

Mr. Teele remained pastor of the church for twenty-five 
years, when he desired to be relieved of his duties, and 
preached his twenty-fifth anniversary sermon, Dec. 18, 1875. 

Rev. W. C. Reed, Rev. W. W. Parker, and other clergymen 
occupied the field until 

REV. CALVIN G. HILL, 

the present honored pastor, was installed, Feb. f>, 1882, with 
Mr. Teele as pastor emeritus. 

STONE CHURCH. 

The Stone Church at East Milton was built in 1826 by the 
Second Congregational (Unitarian) Society of Milton. 

It was subsequently occupied by several different denomina¬ 
tions. 

It was to this building that the First Evangelical Church 
repaired in 1834, after the separation from the old town 
church. 

The Methodists had possession of it for a time, Rev. Edward 
Otheman occupying the pulpit for two or three years. 

Afterward Rev. Mr. Withered preached there for a season; 
during his administration the Second Evangelical Church was 
formed. 

The Stone Church was a well-proportioned building, of grace¬ 
ful, solid architecture, and pleasing to the eye. It might have 
stood for a century, an ornament to the thriving village; but 
it was unused for a long period, during which time it was 
greatly neglected. The roof partially fell in; it stood a ruin 
for years, and was finally taken down. 

THE SECOND EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 

The Second Evangelical Church of Milton, of eighteen 
members, was organized Nov. 9, 1843. They held services in 


272 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


the Stone Church for a time; afterward they occupied Mr. 
Babcock’s hall. 

June 18, 1846, the Second Evangelical Congregational Par¬ 
ish was organized and the church edifice erected. This was 
during the ministry of Rev. W. M. Harding. 

Rev. Samuel Cozzens, after leaving the First Church, preached 
here from the fall of 1848 till April, 1851. 

Rev. Edwin Leonard was ordained and installed pastor of 
the church, March 25, 1852. 

Rev. Mr. Wheeler was acting pastor for about two years. 

The pastor of the First Evangelical Church, Rev. Mr. Teele, 
had charge of this church in connection with the First, com¬ 
mencing afternoon services April 30, 1865, and continuing till 
Dec. 19, 1872. 

Then followed Rev. Hilary Bygrave and several others. 

Rev. George P. Gilman, the last resident clergyman, was 
with the church for three years or more. 

It is now Without a settled pastor. 

THE LOWER MILLS BAPTIST CHURCH OF DORCHESTER AND 
MILTON. 

This church, having been a mission enterprise for two years, 
was organized Nov. 18, 1882, with twenty-five members, and 
Nathan Hunt was ordained as pastor. 

Mr. Hunt was born in Scott’s Woods, Milton. He is remem¬ 
bered with great affection as connected with the Sabbath School 
of the First Evangelical Church in his boyhood. The pastor of 
this church has followed him with the watchful interest of a 
sincere friend in his education and progress onward to the 
place he now occupies. 

From the humble walks of life he has risen to the position of 
clergyman in his own native town, respected and beloved by 
his people and fellow-citizens, — a record of fidelity and earnest 
purpose in life worthy of recognition. 

The place of worship at the present time, 1884, is Associates 
Hall, Milton Lower Mills. 

Since the above date a handsome church edifice has been 
erected on the Dorchester side, where the shepherd gathers his 
Milton and Dorchester flock. May the prophetic words come 
to pass: “ There shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat past¬ 
ure shall they feed.” — Ezekiel xxxiv. 14. 



MINISTERS OF MILTON. 


273 


RETROSPECT. 

Here closes the long record of two and a quarter centuries, 
covering the four extended pastorates of the town church, and 
the four pastorates of each of its branches. 

Thus have we travelled down amid the denizens of the past, 
through all the changes of these centuries of time. It is well 
thus to do, to turn awhile and look upon the great past, to 
have our souls filled and thronged with its glorious solemn 
visions. 

Pastors and people, shepherds and flocks, — all, all departed, 
all silent! The past holds them. Their bodies lie in our burial- 
grounds, and there will remain till the voice of the archangel 
and the trump of God. The venerable Thacher and many of 
his family and name; the gentle Taylor; Robbins, ardent and 
earnest in all his life; Gile, Cozzens, Angier, and Washburn, 
with their people around them, — a vast congregation of once 
sincere, earnest, high-minded actors in this place of our sojourn. 

Venerable men and women of sturdy nature, of determined 
purpose, and unfaltering loyalty to the King of kings. 

They helped to form and fashion the country, the common¬ 
wealth, the town now the heritage of their descendants. 

They left the impress of their character on the institutions 
and men that followed them. 

We are sometimes disposed to speak severely of the harsher 
traits of their characters ; but even their infirmities, their stern¬ 
ness of temper, their religious exaltation, their disregard of the 
graces, of life, were important factors in the work to be wrought 
out. 

“ A thousand gay insects flutter in the summer sun, which 
the blasts of winter sweep from the face of the earth.” 

Could men of gentler stamp have breasted the obstacles, and 
performed the arduous labors, and laid broad and deep the 
earth-fast foundations of this Republic, now so strong and fair ? 

“ The diamond, rough, unfashioned, in the mine, 

Now cut, and polished, brilliantly doth shine.” 


274 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


CHAPTER X. 

ORGANIZATION OF CHURCH, MEETING-HOUSES, AND 
VARIOUS TOWN AFFAIRS. 


T HAT the early inhabitants of Milton were church-goers and 
church lovers is manifest from all their history. It was 
not then, as it is now, an occasional custom to attend public 
worship on the Sabbath, but a settled habit. The fathers, with 
the sons, and all the family, as often as the Sabbath returned, 
were prompt in attendance as earnest and devout worshippers 
through the long service. And when the fathers passed away, 
the sons, inspired by the same reverence for the sanctuary and its 
observances, took up their work. Indeed, such was the spirit of 
the times that they were constrained to this observance in order 
to hold rank as good citizens ; but, far more than this, they drew 
strength from the service for the robust Christian work then 
demanded. The spirit of genuine religion is a spirit of great 
power. It attracts the admiration, and conquers the affections 
of men not by effeminacy, but by strength. It held their minds 
and hearts in perfect sway. 

In illustration of this I here present from the original manu¬ 
script the Sunday note of Deacon Ebenezer Wadsworth, who 
died in 1717. This was publicly read from the pulpit, according 
to the custom of the times, which custom has passed away 
within thirty years. 


SUNDAY NOTE OF DEACON EBENEZER WADSWORTH. 

The earnest prayers of the children of God in this place for Ebenezer 
Wadsworth are desired he being in a very Weak & low Condition that God 
would be pleased of his infinite Mercy to show forth his Power to the Glory 
of his Grace in Removing of his pain and Weakness and distress which he 
is exercised with, but if God had otherwise Determined that he would of his 
Sovereign free Mercy & grace fit and prepare him for his Holy Will and 
Pleasure, and that he would atford his gracious presence unto him, unto & 
through that important hour when he changes time for eternity, and that 
the Comforter that should receive him may never be far from him, but 
take up its abode with him and not at any time leave him Comfortless. 



ORGANIZATION OF CHURCH. 


275 


Regular preaching services were held in Unquity and Milton 
at least twenty-two years before a church was organized. 

The long delay in so important a matter as the formation of 
a church seems almost unaccountable. We can only explain it 
on the supposition that they were waiting for a settled pastor. 
Mr. Mighill’s ministry was but from year to year; at one time 
he removed from the place, and returned again at the solicitation 
of a part of the town. With the hope and reasonable expecta¬ 
tion of a permanent settlement, after his return, the majority 
determined upon the formation of a church. To accomplish 
this great and serious object they sought the aid of the mother 
church, and held the service in the old church home. 

The records of that church, describing the organizations, are 
literally copied. 


CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 


The 24. 2. 78 ther was a Church gathered by some of o r breatheren y‘ 
liyd at Milton it was done in o r meeting hous at Dorchester becaus of some 
opposission y‘ did appeare ; y e Persons w oh they sent unto weer the Elders 
& messengers of y e three Churches in Boston & waymoth Brantree & Dead- 
ham y e Majestrats weer accquainted with it but only y e govenor was heer 
by reason of y e wett and Snow season. Mr Allen did first pray and then 

Mr Flint did preach from y e -& then prayed, afterward the breatheren 

weer Called on one after another to declare y e work of grace y* god had 
wrought on them to y e number of Seaven, but before they began,, it was 
put to y e whole assembly both messengers and others whether any had any 
Just reason against their proceeding, but all weer silent, after they had 
made their relations, a confession of faith was read by o r Elder unto w ch they 
all Consented by lifting up of hands, then thos Seaven breatheren weer 
Called downe into y e body of y e assembly and a Covenant was read unto 
them unto which they all Consented by lifting up of hands, y e breatheren 
y* entered into this Covenant & made publique relation weer .thes : 


Rob‘ Tucker member of waymoth 
Anthony Newton 
William Blake 
Thomas Swift 
Georg Sumner 
Edward Blake 

member of y e 2 Church of Boston 
Ebenezer Clap 


members of Dorchester Church 


After this was done ther weer more of o r Breatheren y* did at y e same 
time enter into y e same Covenant with the former namly 

Thomas Holman 
Georg Lyon 
Ephram 4 

Manasses & > Tucker 
James j 

And then M r Tory was appointed to give y e right hand of Fellowship & 
Mr Mather prayed & a psalme sung & y e assembly dismissed. 



276 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


COVENANT. 

The following is the Covenant to which they assented: — 

We whose names are subscribed being called of God to join ourselves 
together in Chh. communion from our hearts acknowledging our owne 
unworthynesse of such a priviledge, or of y e Least of gods mercys, & like¬ 
wise acknowledging our owne disability to keep Covenant, with God, or to 
perform any spirituall duty, w° hee calleth us unto, unlesse, y e Lord Jesus 
doe inable, thereunto, by his spirit dwelling in us. Doe In y e name of 
Christ Jesus our Lord, & in trust & confidence of his free grace assisting us : 
Freely Covenant & bind ourselues, solemnly in y e presence of God hims., 
his holy An^ells & all his servants here present, y‘ wee will by his Grace’ 
assisting Indeavour constantly to walk together as a right ordered Congre¬ 
gation of Christ, according to all y e holy rules of a Church body: rightly 
Established so farre as wee doe already know it to be our duty: Or shall 
further understand it out of gods holy word: Promising first & above all 
to give up ourselues & our ofspring unto y e Lord God, father Son & Holy- 
Ghost, y e only true and liueving God & to cleave unto him as our cheafe & 
only Good, and unto our Lord Jesus Christ as our only Saviour our Prophit 
Preist & King our spirituall head & Husband ; & for y e furthering of us to 
Keep y e blessed Communion with God & his son Jesus Christ & to grow up 
more fully herein, wee doe likewise promise, by his Grace Assisting us to 
Endeavour y" Establishing amongst ourselves of all his holy Ordinances , w° 
hee hath appointed for his Chh here on Earth & to Observe all & every of 
y m , in such sort, as shall bee most agreeable unto his will: Opposeing unto 
y° utmost of our chh power y e Contrary. And, lastly wee doe hereby Cove¬ 
nant & promise, to further unto v e utmost of our power y e best spirituall 
good, of such other, & of all & Every One, y k may become members of y e 
Congregation by mutual Instruction, reprehension, Exhortation, Consolation, 
& spirituall watchfullnesse over one another for good; & to be subject in & 
for y e Lord to all y e Administrations & Censures, of y e Chh. soe far as y e 
same shall be guides according to y e Rules of Gods most holy word in a 
way of order peace & vnion ; with all promising to walk orderly in a way 
of fellowshipe & Communion with all y e Chhs of Christ among us according 
to Rule, y* y e Lord may be one & his name be one in all y° Chhs : 

This Covenant wee doe by solemne act of Chh Confederation Enter unto 
with full purpose of heart [as y e Lord shall help us] to keep it forever, & 
where wee shall faile, y er to waite upon our Lord Jesus, for healing & par¬ 
don for his Names sake. 

The names to this Covenant are : — 


Anthony Newton 
[Member of Dorchester Church] 
Robert Tucker 
[Member of Weymouth Church] 
William Blacke 
[Member of Dorchester Church] 
Thomas Swift 

[Member of Dorchester Church] 
George Sumner 
[Member of Dorchester Church] 
Thomas Holman 
[Admitted by Covenant] 


Ebenezer Clap 
[Member of Dorchester Church] 
Edward Blacke 
[Member of 2 d Church, Boston] 
George Lion 
[Admitted by Covenant] 

James Tucker 
[Admitted by Covenant] 
Ephraim Tucker 
[Admitted by Covenant] 
Manasseh Tucker 
[Admitted by Covenant] 



MEETING-HO USES. 


277 



r? C^uTche 


MEETING-HOUSES. 

As has been set forth in the chapter on “ Highways and By¬ 
ways,” the first meeting-house in use, before the establishment 
of the town, seems to have stood on or near the “ Country Heigh- 
way,” at the head of Churchill’s lane. 

In 1664 Robert Vose conveyed to the inhabitants of the town 
of Milton a tract of land of eight acres, situated on Yose’s lane 
and Centre street, for a meeting-house, and other ministerial 
purposes. 

We here introduce the deed of conveyance : — 


This Indenture made this thirteenth day of January, in y e year of o r Lord, 
one thousand six hundred sixty and two betwixt Robert Yose of Milton in 
y e County of Suffolk, in New England yeoman, of y e one party, and y e in¬ 
habitants of y e aforesaid Milton of y e other party witnesseth y‘ y e s d Robert 
Vose for good and valuable consideracons in hand payd, hath given, grant, 
sold, enfeoffed & confirmed, and by these presents doe give grant Bargain 
sell enfeoffe & confirm to y e inhabitants of ye town of Milton, their heyrs 
and successors for present eight acres of land more or less, as it lyeth in 
y e field of y e said Robert Yose in Milton aforesaid: bounded with y e land of 
y e said Robert Vose on y e westward of y e same, & on y e north west by a 
swamp belonging to s d Robert Yose, and on y e north side y e land of Robert 
Redman, and on y e east part y e land of Robert Redman and y e land of John 
ffenno. To have & to hold y e s d eight acres of land with y e appurtenances 
y r unto belonging unto y° inhabitants of Milton as aforesaid their heyrs and 







278 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


successors forever, to be and continue to be y 8 proper right and inheritance 
of y e inhabitants of Milton their heyrs and successors forever without any 
let trouble molestation or expulsion of him y e s a Robert Vose his executors 
administrators or assigns, or any claiming title claime or interest to y e same 
or any part, parcell y r of from or under him or them or any of them, and 
also without the lawful let, trouble or expulsion of any other person or per¬ 
sons whatsoever, will warrant and acquit and defend y e s a eight acres of 
land more or less with y 8 appurtenances thereof to y e inhabitants aforesaid 
heyrs & successors forever by these presents. 

And also shall and will doe any other act or thing as shall be necessary 
for the further and more perfecting and compleating or assuring of the 
premises according to y e laws of this federacon, and lastly Jane y’ wife of 
s d Robert Vose doth hereby freely and fully give and yeild up unto y e in¬ 
habitants of Milton aforesaid their heyrs & successors all her right, title,, 
dowry & interest in y e land aforesaid, either y* she now hath or hereafter in 
any wise may or ought to have, in witness whereof y‘ s d Robert Yose & 
Jane his wife have hereunto set our hands & seals this 18 day of May One 
thousand six hundred & sixty & fower. 

Signed Sealed & Delivered Robert Yose & a seal 

in presence of , -r -r , r 

John Ball — Jane Yose & a seal 

Robert Vose & his wife Jane Yose acknowledged 
this instrument to be their free act & deed thia 
18 day of May 1664 — Boston — Thomas Dan- 
forth. 

Entered & Recorded July 1664 

Per Edw Rawson Recorder. 


This indenture, though drawn Jan. 30, 1662, three months 
before the town was incorporated, was not executed until May 
18, 1664. In the interim there had been erected on the land 
thus donated a parsonage or ministerial house. From the paper 
following, the house seems to have been built by the eighteen 
individuals whose signatures appear on the document, in their 
private capacity. The two documents can be made to harmon¬ 
ize only on the hypothesis that those eighteen men comprised 
the entire number of “freeholders ” then constituting the town 
of Milton, making their action the action of the town. 


minister’s house. 

Know All Men By These Presents y‘ we y e inhabitants & freeholders 
of y e town or Milton in y e County of Suffolk in New England, finding of it 
necessary in order unto y e Comfortable & Suitable cairying on of y 8 pub- 
lique woi’ship of God y* we should make provision for y e settlement of y e pub- 
lique ministry amongst us. And having to y‘ end already purchased of 
o r friend and neighbor Robert Yose a convenient parcel of land [y* is to- 
say] eight acres or thereabouts as by a legall conveyance from him y e s d Rob- 
ert Yose doth appear and having also thereon erected [at o r own cost] a 
house for y 8 entertainment of a minister, Therefore know yee y* wee y 8 in¬ 
habitants & freeholders of y 8 town of Milton aforesaid doe by these presents 




MEETING-HO USES. 


279 


faithfully promise unto and covenant with one another for ourselves and in 
our own names and also for and in y 8 behalf of our heyrs and successors 
y* all y* housing y* hereto is or hereafter shall be erected by us upon y* land, 
& all that land aforesaid and all y e privileges & appurtenances thereunto 
belonging shall be & remain to be to y 8 publique use of y e inhabitants & 
freeholders of y 8 town of Milton aforesaid in order to y e prosecution of the 
premises. And y'fore wee doe by these presents freely own, covenant and 
agree y* y 8 s d house and land shall be and remain to be to y e use and be¬ 
hoof of such Minister as God shall successively from time to time send 
amongst us. And y* there shall be no alienation or appropriation of 
v* house or land unto any particular person any longer than he shall re¬ 
main in y 8 constant exercise of y e publique ministry amongst us. And 
further wee doe hereby covenant and agree y* it shall not be in y e power 
of a majority of ourselves at any time to make any such alienation and ap¬ 
propriation without the consent of all & every of y m y‘ are purchasers, or 
their heirs or successors. And wee doe further covenant & agree that this 
our covenant & agreement shall be recorded by the Clerk of the writts in 
y e Town Books & also y‘ it shall be recorded in y e County Books y* so it 
may remain as a firm obligacon upon ourselves our heyrs & successors 
unto the performance of the premises. 

In witness where of we have hereunto set our hands. 


Robert Yose 
Anthony Gouliver 
Anthony Newton 
Samuel Wadsworth 
Henry Crane 
Thomas Yose 


Jno Gill 
W M Daniell 
W M Sals bury 
James Hoften 
Robert Badcock 
Robert Tucker 


Richard Collicott 
Robert Redman 
Steyan Kinsley 
John Ffenno 
David Himes 
Thomas Swift 


Entered and Recorded at request of Robert Yose, in behalf of the sub¬ 
scribers 17 July 1664 Pr Edw Rawson Recorder. 

[Sulfolk Registry, Lib. 4, Fol. 208.] 


This house is often referred to in the Town Records. 

Feb. 16, 1669, a committee was sent to Sandwich to invite 
the Rev. Mr. Wiswall to Milton, offering him £60 per year 
and the use of house and lands, with liberty to cut wood for 
his own use. Mr. Mighill while in Milton occupied the minis¬ 
terial house; the rent of this, with wood from the lot, formed 
a part of his salary. Rev. Samuel Man was its occupant 1678- 
80. Rev. Mr. Thacher took possession of the ministerial house 
when he came to Milton, Sept. 10, 1681, and occupied it until 
a house built by himself, was completed, Nov. 11,1689. In 1690 
“the ministerial house and land lying to it,” having seem¬ 
ingly completed its special mission, was, by vote of the town, 
sold to Edward Yose for £60. It is highly probable that the 
house on the corner of Centre street and Vose’s lane, now 
owned by Mrs. Blanchard, stands on the site of the old “ min¬ 
ister’s house,” and may be part of the same. It passed into 
the Yose family in 1690, and afterwards became the property 
of Yose Crane. After the decease of Polly Crane, Jan., I860, 


280 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Charles Breck purchased the estate for his brother, and thor¬ 
oughly repaired the house, putting in new sills and making the 
old structure oyer anew, at the cost of nearly $500. 

If this is true, a part of this house, originally built in 1668, 
is now two hundred and twenty-four years old. 


SECOND MEETING-HOUSE. 

On the land donated by Robert Yose a new meeting-house 
was erected in 1671. At a town-meeting held Sept., 1670, it 
was decided to locate the house “neare Goodman Vose, his 
loked barre.” At a subsequent meeting of the town the loca¬ 
tion was changed. 

Jan. 12 1671. It was legally voted that forasmuch as the former vote 
by the Locke Bars cannot in respect of place be improved for the Settinge 
of the Meeting House, that it should stand upon the Est sid of Goodman 
Yoses Lande at the corner of his son Thomas Voses stone wall next to 
Henry Glover his house by the town way sid, and Robert Yose did agree 
thereunto. 

This second meeting-house was built, according to the above 
vote, near the site now occupied by the house of Mrs. 
Blanchard. Two years later Yose’s lane was opened along the 
west side of the meeting-house, and the town-way (now Centre 
street) passed it on the south. The building of the meeting¬ 
house was a great undertaking for the times, when, doubtless, 
one dollar held the value of a hundred dollars in our day. The 
town levied a rate of <£50 for the erection of the building, and 
made provisions for securing the amount as follows: — 

Upon a training day the 22 of Oct. 1670 it was agreed by a vote of the 
Train Band and several others that were present that 6 acres of the Town 
land should be cleared of the Tim 1 and wood to By nails and glass for the 
new meeting house. 

Each citizen could meet his portion of the rate, by cutting wood from 
the lot and hauling the same to the Town Landing, where he was allowed 
one shilling and three pence per cord. “ Jan 10, 1670-1 It was voted 
that if 6 acres do not suffice to pay for the meeting house, enough more be 
taken as will pay all the Rats for that building.” 

One or two references to this house found in the Town 
Records lead us to conclude that it was a small building nearly 
square, with gallery on one side, pulpit on the other, and 
entrance on the town-way, now Centre street. 

This house sufficed for the needs of the town for fifty-eight 
years, through the whole ministry of Parson Thacher. 


MEETING-HO USES. 


281 


THIRD MEETING-HOUSE. 

As early as May 9, 1715, it was decided in town-meeting to 
Ibuild a new meeting-house, and “ that the meeting-house stand 
where it now is.” 

Here commenced a grievous controversy respecting the loca¬ 
tion of the proposed meeting-house, which extended through 
a period of twelve years. The matter came up at every town¬ 
meeting, and was the subject of votes, reconsiderations, and 
protests, almost without number. 

Aug. 24, 1721. Voted that the meeting-house shall be built on Milton 
ministerial land with submiscion to our Great & General Court. Lieut. 
Henry Vose and others were chosen a committee to petition our Great & 
General Court, praying them to concur with this town in building the said 
Meeting-House. 

The General Court gave leave so to do, but by their com¬ 
mittee recommended a lot on the land of Andrew Pitcher. 
The vote was protested by twenty-seven men and women, and the 
enterprise was defeated. March 27,1727, twelve years after the 
movement was started, a compromise was effected. 

Voted, to build the meeting-house on land of John Trott. Deacon John 
Wadsworth, Ensign Samuel Swift, Mr. John Daniel were appointed a 
committee to treat with John Trott about said land, voted to adjourn till 
Monday next. 

April 3, 1727. The committee made their report, and their report was 
as follows, that the land may be had for thirty pounds. 

Voted to concur with the committee’s report concerning a tract of land 
whereon to build a meeting-house. Voted that there shall be a committee 
chosen to address the Great & General Court for their concurrence with the 
vote of the town. Deacon John Wadsworth, Manasseh Tucker, John 
Daniel were chosen the committee. 

The following is-the petition to the General Court: — 

A petition of Manasseh Tucker and others, a committee of the town of 
Milton showing that for divers years past they have been under great diffi¬ 
culties with respect to the erecting and placing of a new meeting-house 
partly through disagreement among themselves and partly through the 
impractibility of purchasing the land assigned by the General Court. That 
the inhabitants of the Town legally warned have agreed upon the south 
west corner of John Trotts land adjacent to the road, joining to the land of 
Andrew Pitcher which the first committee of the General Court judged the 
most convenient place for building their meeting-house. Therefore pray¬ 
ing the allowance of this court that they may build their meeting-house on 
the said John Trott’s land agreeable to the vote passed by the town afore¬ 
said. 

In the House of Representatives — Read & Ordered that the prayer of the 
petitioners be granted, the former order of the Court notwithstanding. 

In Council Read & Concurred 

July 1727, Consented to. 

[State Archives.] 


W. Dummer 


282 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


At an adjourned town-meeting, held July 31, 1727, the 
concurrence of the General Court was read. The following 
committee was appointed to attend to the building: Samuel 
Wadsworth, Ensign Samuel Swift, Benjamin Fenno, Preserved 
Lion, John Daniel. Thus harmony was restored, and work on 
the new house was commenced. In the midst of this work Mr. 
Thacher died, Dec. 17, 1727. 

At a meeting of the town, May 27 1728, Nathaniel Yose, Nehemiah Clap, 
Samuel Tucker, and John Trott were chosen a committee to provide for 
the raising of the meeting-hous. 

Voted that the provision that shall be made for the raising of our meet¬ 
ing-house shall be bread and ches, and bear, sider and rum. 

This third meeting-house, after so long and sore strife, was- 
built near Canton avenue, in front of the present Unitarian 
church. Its size was fifty feet by forty, and twenty-eight feet 
high, with a belfry. 

At a meeting of the town, April 3, 1729, voted to place a bel in the belfry 
to weigh 3 1-2 cwt. grose. Voted to pay for the bel by subscription. 

Rev. John Taylor commenced his ministry in this house 
near the time of its completion. He was allowed the first 
choice of a place for the minister’s pew in the new house, which 
pew was to be built by the town. The house stood near 
the street, with southerly doors opening towards Canton 
avenue. In the centre of the northerly side was the high 
pulpit, over which hung the sounding-board, with three pews 
ranged on each side of it. Four square pews occupied the 
easterly end, leaving room for gallery stairs. In the westerly 
end was the steeple, westerly door, and women’s stairs. Mr. 
Taylor’s pew was the first on the easterly end on entering 
the southerly doors. In 1739 it was exchanged for the “ Gover¬ 
nor Belcher pew, being the tenth, or the third, on the westerly 
side of the pulpit.” 

The pews were designed for the occupancy of families, and 
were built by the leading and wealthy families of the town. 
The rest of the floor and the galleries, which occupied three 
sides of the house, were arranged for citizens generally, the 
women and men being seated in separate sections. 

Nov. 12 1728. Voted that they who draw pus shall sit in them them¬ 
selves, with so many of their family as can conveniently sit with them, and 
the rest of their family to be seated with the rest of the town. 

1751. March, 11. Voted that the negro men and women should sett in 
the two hindermost seats of the upper most gallery [uppermost part of 
the gallery]. 


MEETING-HO USES. 


283 


March 12, 1753. Samuel Miller Benj. Fenno and Capt. John Crehore 
were chosen a Committy to act on the towns behalf with respect to- 
Thomas Hutchinson Esq. having a place for a pew in the Meeting house. 
Voted that six inches be taken of the womans stairs if need be to make 
room for a pew. 

After the completion of this building Jonathan Gulliver, 
Henry Yose, Benjamin Fenno, Samuel Swift, John Daniel, and 
Samuel Miller, Jr., in behalf of the town, conveyed to Thomas 
Yose, July 4, 1732, for the sum of X34, the old meeting-house, 
as follows: — 

A tract of land containing by estimation, thirty and six rods with an old 
Meeting-house thereon belonging to the said town Butted & Bounded as 
followeth: Easterly on the said Thomas Vose’s land: Southerly and 
Westerly on the road, and Northerly on Nathaniel Vose’s land, together 
with all and singular the said old Meeting-house and all the priveleges 
and Appurtenances there unto belonging. 


FOURTH MEETING-HOUSE. 

For several years the meeting-house needing repairs, and 
proving too strait for the people, the question at length arose 
respecting a new house. In 1772 a committee was appointed 
to take this matter into consideration. 

At a meeting May 13, 1773 the committee reported, that they should 
now recommend to the town to get a new meeting-house as soon as they 
can, the easiest way that may be thought of, and the report was accepted 
by a vote of the town. Voted to build the new meeting-house on the most 
convenient spot of the same piece of the town land that the old meeting¬ 
house now stands on. 

The population of the town had nearly doubled in the forty- 
five years that had elapsed since the building of the house then 
in use, and the question of repairs involved also the question 
of enlargement, which, in the judgment of the committee, 
could be met in the most economical way by commencing at 
the foundation. 

But the clouds of war began to gather thickly over them; 
the troubles with the parent government were daily growing 
more serious and menacing, engrossing the thoughts of the 
people to the exclusion of all other considerations, and nothing 
more is heard of the new meeting-house until after peace was 
restored. 

At a town meeting Oet 3, 1785 Voted to build a new meeting-hous 66 
by 52. Voted to meet the cost by the sale of the old meeting-hous at 
auction — by selling the pews in the new Meeting-hous to be built, and by 
assessing the remainder on the estates of the citizens. 


■284 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Nov. 14, 1785. Sixty-two pews on the lower floor of the 
house to be built were appraised at <£904, and sold for £1,191 
2s., being £287 2s. above appraisal. Col. William Taylor 
made the highest bid for choice, £6 12s.; John Marshall and 
John Crehore, Jr., the lowest, £3 12s. At a later date twenty- 
four gallery pews were appraised and sold, the bids above ap¬ 
praisal ranging from £1 10s. to £5 2s., and amounting in the 
aggregate to £209 8s. The whole amount realized from the sale 
of pews was £1,400 10s. This seems to have been the first 
step in the building process. 

The work on the frame began May 1, 1787. On the 19th of 
June they commenced raising. 

Altho four days ware Barely sufficient for accomplishing that important 
Difficult & Dangerous part of the Business, yet as the Quantity of the Tim¬ 
ber was large and very hevey as thare was No damage sustained or the 
most triffling accident hapned during the whol time, these singular Cir¬ 
cumstances were generally considered as evident Tokens of the divin fa¬ 
vour and supernatural Protection. 

December 31. We were agreeably entertained with the Exhibition of 
a very elligant clock Presented as a donation to the Town by Mr. Edward 
H. Robbins. This Butifull Machine Justly Esteemed very ornamental is 
really much more valuable on account of its use and Conveniency; for 
while it serves to distinguish those artificial Periods of Time that measure 
and Constitute the aggregate Term of univarsell Mortal Duration at the 
same time it reminds us of the Constant and uninterrupted Succession of 
those moments that will infallably & shortly reduce that Portion of time 
alloted to mortals to one single point. 

This new building was dedicated Jan. 1, 1788, costing $5,600. 
It is the same edifice now occupied by the Unitarian Society, 
only when built it stood lengthwise towards the street, with 
the steeple-end facing southerly. In 1835 it was turned around, 
the galleries were walled out, and the interior was greatly 
changed. In 1851 it was enlarged by the addition of twenty 
pews, and received extensive improvements. In 1871 it was 
again repaired and improved, as we now see it. 

A few years since, the parish parlor was built on the west 
side of the church, affording pleasant accommodations for the 
Sabbath school and for the social wants of the people. 

All other church edifices in Milton are described in the 
chapter on “Ministers of Milton.” 


OTHER TOWN BUILDINGS. 

Town-meetings were held in the meeting-house, or, in suit¬ 
able weather, on the church green, until A.D. 1836. In the 






OTHER TOWN BUILDINGS. 


285 


year 1818 the parish was organized, and the town relinquished 
all claims to the meeting-house and property ; but town-meetings 
were held in the meeting-house, by the consent of the parish, 
for about eighteen years afterwards. 

The last town-meeting in the meeting-house was on March 
9, 1885. Town-meeting in Academy Hall, Nov. 9, 1835; in 
the vestry of East meeting-house, June 1, 1836 ; at the Railway 
House, Monday, Nov. 14, 1836 ; at the Railway meeting-house, 
Feb. 13, 1837. 

Aug. 24, 1836. The Trustees of Milton Academy voted to rent the lower 
story of the Academy Building to the Town of Milton for town meetings at 
$40 per year. 

It is not certain that town-meetings were held in the Academy 
after that of Nov. 9, 1835, unless the March meeting of 1836 
was there. 

Two town-meetings in 1837 were held in the vestry of Rail¬ 
way village meeting-house, as appears by an item among “ inci¬ 
dental ” expenses in the first printed report of the town: “ Paid 
for use of vestry at Railway village meeting-house for two town 
meetings, $300.” This was the old stone church. 

A tract of land for a town-house was purchased of Mr. 
Taylor in 1837, at the cost of $350, and a building was erected 
the same year. The March meeting of 1838 was held in the 
new town-house. 

A paper enumerating the contents of a copper box deposited 
in the corner-stone of the present Town-Hall, erected in 1878, 
which contains a history of the first town-house, as well as of 
its successor, the present building, with other interesting facts, 
is here introduced : — 


CONTENTS OF THE BOX THIS DAY DEPOSITED IN THE SOUTHEASTERLY 

CORNER-STONE OF THE TOWER OF THE TOWN-HALL, JULY 22, 1878. 

The Citizens of Milton, A.D. 1878, to The Citizens of Milton, A.D. - 

Salutations and Benedictions!! 

“ The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine 
upon you, and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon 
you and give you peace! ” — Numbers vi. 24-26. 

OLD TOWN-HOUSE. 

The town of Milton, after having given up their meeting-house to the 
First Congregational Parish, and having no place in which to hold their 
town-meetings, at their meeting in March, 1837, chose the Hon. John 
Ruggles, Jason Houghton, Esq., Dea. Jesse Tucker, Moses Gragg, Alva 
Martin, Walter Cornell, and Dea. Samuel Adams a Committee to purchase a 


'286 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


piece of land near the centre of the town, and erect thereon a town-house, 
not to exceed forty by sixty feet, and one story in height, and at a cost 
not to exceed $2,500. 

The selectmen were authorized to draw on the treasurer from time to 
time in such sums as might be wanted ; and if there were no funds on hand, 
he was authorized to hire on the credit of the town. 

By the sagacity and prudence of President Jackson, a surplus had ac¬ 
cumulated in the U. S. Treasury, which was distributed to the several 
States. Massachusetts divided her share among the towns; Milton’s 
proportion of which was $3,424.89. This sum going into the treasury, 
enabled them to pay without hiring, the cost of the land, town-house, 
and furnishing, $2,835.43, and to have a surplus of $589.46 left in the 
town treasury. 

The above house, having fulfilled its mission of forty-one years, is now 
(1878) about giving place to one more in accordance with the wants of the 
town. 

The valuation of the town in 1837 was $1,648,380.30. The rate of tax 
on $1,000 was $3.45. 

The valuation the present year is but a little short of $9,000,000, and the 
rate of tax per $1,000 is $7.00. 

Amount raised by tax in 1837, $4,000.00; schools partly additional. 

Amount raised by tax in 1878, $63,392.20. 

The highest tax paid by an individual in 1837 was paid by Gen. Moses 
Whitney, viz., $187.80. 

The highest tax paid in 1878 was by heirs of A. Hemmenway, $11,- 
561.20. 


NEW TOWN-HALL. 

At the annual March meeting, A.D. 1878, the town of Milton voted an 
appropriation of thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000) for the erection of 
a town-hall, and the following committee of citizens were chosen to carry 
into effect the vote of the town, viz., William H. Forbes, Chairman, 
Samuel Gannett, Secretary, J. Huntington Wolcott, James M. Robbins, 
Samuel Babcock, George Yose, Edward L. Pierce, Horace E. Ware, and 
Albert K. Teele. 

The work was entrusted to the following artisans : — 

Architects. — Hartwell & Tilden, of Boston. 

Contractors. —Mason Work: Wm. C. Poland & Son, of Boston. 

Carpentry: Creesey & Noyes, of Boston. 


DOCUMENTS AND COIN IN BOX. 

Address at the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the incorporation of the 
Town of Milton, delivered June 11, 1862, by Hon. James M. Robbins. 

Two sermons preached in Milton, June 15 and 22, 1862, suggested by 
the Centennial Celebration, by John H. Morison, D.D. 

The Auditor’s first printed Financial Report of the town, containing a 
statement of expenditures in the erection of the first town-hall, A.D. 1838. 
The Auditor’s last Report of the finances of the town, A.D. 1878. 

The first printed Annual Report of the School Committee of Milton, 
A.D. 1841. The last Annual Report of the School Committee of Milton, 
A.D. 1878. 

Twenty-fifth Anniversary Sermon, preached in the First Evangelical 
Church of Milton, Dec. 19, 1875, by Albert K. Teele, D.D. 

Report of the Committee for procuring a Seal for the Town of Milton, 
adopted March 4, 1878. 



0 THER TO WN B UILDINGS. 


287 


A Discourse occasioned by the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the 
Formation of the First Church of Milton, delivered April 28, 1878, by Rev. 
Frederick Frothingham. 

A Collection of Papers relative to the Transactions of the Town of 
Milton in the State of Massachusetts to promote a general Innoculation of 
the Cow or Kine Pock, as a never-failing preventive against Small-pox 
infection, A.D. 1809. 

Boston Daily Papers of July 20, 1878. — Advertiser, Post, Globe, 
Herald, Transcript, Journal, Traveller. 

Weekly Papers. — Boston Beacon, Norfolk County Gazette, Dedham 
Transcript, Quincy Patriot. 

United States Coin, Issue of 1878. — Silver dollar, trade-dollar, half- 
dollar, quarter-dollar, dime, “ nickel,” five-eent, three-cent, one-cent. 

ALBERT K. TEELE, 

For Building Committee. 

The Town-Hall, described in the foregoing paper as in 
process of- erection, was successfully completed and delivered 
to the town. The Building Committee having finished their 
work, announced to the citizens the occasion of its formal open¬ 
ing by the following circular left at their residences: — 

TO THE CITIZENS OF MILTON. 

Your Committee appointed by the town at their last March meeting, for 
the purpose of building a Town-Hall, respectfully represent that, having 
finished their work, they propose on Monday, Feb. 17, 1879, to deliver the 
keys to the Selectmen, and end their duties with the following ceremonies. 

The hall will be opened to the public at 2 o’clock, P.M.; at 7 P.M. 
exercises as follows : — 

MUSIC BY THE 

CADET BAND. 

PRAYER BY COMMITTEE’S REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN, 

REY. A. K. TEELE. WM. H. FORBES. 


ADDRESS BY 

HON. EDWARD L. PIERCE. 

Music by the Band the remainder of the Evening. 
Col. Henry S. Russell will preside. 


At this dedication service the hall was crowded with an 
audience of citizens deeply interested in the successful comple¬ 
tion of the work, and in the facilities thus provided for the 
growing wants and business of the town. 

The dedicatory address of Mr. Pierce was admirably adapted 
to the occasion and to the hour. With great skill the orator 



288 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


seized upon the salient points in the life and history of the 
ancient town, and in glowing language, rich in comparison and 
vivid in description, placed before his fellow-citizens a real 
picture of the past and the present. 

The address appeared in the papers of the day; it was 
printed with the forty-third Auditor’s report of the town for 
1880; it may also be found in the Public Library, under “ Mil- 
ton Documents.” The following selection, from its descriptive 
portion, demands a place in our history: — 

We have in the pleasant places where our lines have fallen blessings 
which came to us without effort or sacrifice of ourselves or our fathers. 
There are no four miles in our country — perhaps, without exaggeration, 
we might add on the globe — more endowed with all that is attractive in 
scenery than those which are covered by our municipal jurisdiction. Here 
are no morasses, no pestilential districts, no blasted heaths, no wastes 
where all is parched, scraggy and repulsive, no dead level wearisome to 
eye or feet; but the whole space filled with a pure and health-bringing air 
which rises from the sea and descends from the hills, spread out in varied 
landscapes, diversified with elevations and intervals, with forests and fields, 
watered by unfailing brooks, and even the hills fed by perpetual springs. 
Here on our fair heritage are combined the Blue Hills to the south, from 
which came, according to Roger Williams, the Indian name of our beloved 
Commonwealth—Massachusetts; the Neponset river flowing along our 
northern border, and the ocean view to the east. You who have journeyed 
in other lands, along the Charente, the Loire, or the Arno, what fairer 
prospect have you seen than the eye sweeps, as you stand on Milton Hill 
looking on the river, as with changing tide it spreads out a broad lake, or 
withdraws to its narrow bed; on eminences crowned with villas; on vil¬ 
lages nestling in valleys or covering elevations; on church-spires, testify¬ 
ing to Christian worship ; on the islands and beacon lights in the harbor of 
New England’s metropolis; on ships departing and returning on their 
errands of commerce and civilization? 

Looking southward on the same highway, the old Plymouth road, the 
eye glides along a scene hardly less picturesque, which embraces the in¬ 
terval and the hills beyond. Standing on Brush Hill, with no intervening 
obstruction between you and the Blue Hills, there lies spread out before 
you nature in one of her royal moods, a study worthy of some gifted artist. 
Passing on to the south, and ascending the hills themselves, which in a less 
modest nomenclature than ours would be classified as mountains, and 
there, on the summit, lies before you a magnificent panorama of cities, vil¬ 
lages, mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, the ocean, — where one may con¬ 
template with reverence the works of the Creator, the intelligence of man, 
the life and growth of society, and the events of history which have tran¬ 
spired in successive generations, within the bounds of the horizon. 

Nor is the natural beauty of this township confined to such favored sites 
as these, but it is distributed among our farms and along our roads. I 
have seen the artist sitting by our longest brook, which rises in the Blue 
Hills, and, flowing through the Hobart woods, falls into the Neponset, 
sketching the overhanging branches, the old trunks, and the flowering 
meadows by its side, and placing on canvas beauties of which we live alto¬ 
gether too unconscious. Coming at the close of day from the railway 
station to my home, with the twin churches before me and the Blue Hills 



OTHER TOWN BUILDINGS. 


289 


in the background, looking westward I have often paused to gaze on sun¬ 
sets as finely colored as any I have ever seen on Italian skies. We have, 
indeed, villas and lawns which art has constructed and spread out, but, 
better still, we have retained the primitive forest, where woodcock, par¬ 
tridge, quail, and rabbit still linger; we have highways not too broad and 
lined with graceful elms; we have still, and long may we retain, that 
freshness of nature which makes the charm of Milton as a home and place 
of rest. If some lover of nature giited with imagination, like Wordsworth, 
who glorified with sentiment the Lake district of England and peopled it 
with ideal forms, shall ever be born or come to live among us, he will find 
all about him food for his contemplative spirit and poetic genius. 

For nine years the New Town-Hall has met the wants of the 
town in a satisfactory manner. It is equally well adapted to the 
town-meeting, which lies at the foundation of all genuine repub¬ 
lican government, and to the social company, which contributes 
in like measure to the unity and happiness of the people. 

Its solid walls, heavy roof-trusses, and general aspect of com¬ 
pleteness and durability seem to indicate that it was planned to 
last, and to meet the wants of the town for a century to come ; 
but the crowds of voters that already fill the seats and pack the 
aisles at our March meetings plainly show that the projectors of 
this model Town-Hall made at least one mistake. 


MEMORIAL TABLET. 

Underneath the open archway of the hall, between the heavy 
oak doors, is erected a monumental slab of gray marble, bearing 
the following inscription : — 


NON SIBI SED PATRIAE. 

THE TOWN OF MILTON HAS ERECTED THIS TABLET IN MEMORY OF HER 
CITIZEN SOLDIERS WHO DIED IN DEFENCE OF THE REPUBLIC. 


1861 

Lieut. 

Lieut. 

Lieot. 

George O. Baxter 
George F. Bent 
William Bole 
William F. Brigham 
Amos H. Bronsdon 
George W. Burditt 
Patrick Dunican 
N. Stanley Everett 
Ebenezer Field 
George W. Hall, Jr. 


1865 

Josiah H. V. Field 
Stephen G. Perkins 
Huntington F. Wolcott 

Daniel V. Hoyt 
Isaiah Hunt 
Samuel Hunt, Jr. 
Albert B. Martin 
Thomas B. Merrill 
Charles H. Moulton 
Nathaniel T. Myers 
John Scoff 
Edward Shannon 
Charles H. Thayer 


George E. Vose 




290 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


MILTON LIBRARIES. 

MILTON SOCIAL LIBBABY SOCIETY. 

A Library Society was established on Brush Hill, Milton, 
in June, 1792. The same was incorporated agreeably to an act 
of the General Court, under the title of the “ Milton Social Li¬ 
brary Society,” April 3, 1800. We give below brief extracts 
from the constitution of the society: — 

We, the subscribers having formed ourselves into a society by the name 
above mentioned do agree to the following articles herein expressed, or 
further regulations that may be hereafter adopted by a majority of the pro¬ 
prietors. 

Article 1. There shall be annually holden on the second Monday of 
April, a meeting of the proprietors at the Brush Hill school-house in Milton 
at six of the clock afternoon to choose the following officers by ballot, &c. 

Article 7. The time for the delivery of books shall be on the second 
Mondays of April, July, October and January at six of the clock in the 
afternoon; — each member shall return all books taken from the library at 
or before twelve o’clock at noon on said days; if any member shall detain 
a book beyond the limited time, he shall not be allowed to take any other 
book from the library until satisfaction is fully made to the society; and he 
shall also be subject to a fine of six per cent, on the prime cost of the book 
or books, for the first day, and also six per cent, on the prime cost for each 
so detained for the remaining quarter. 


This library continued in existence for twenty-seven years, 
and for most of that time contributed largely to the literary 
wants of the community. Funds for the supply of hooks were 
derived from contributions, assessments, loans, and fines, and the 
list of works was both ample and choice. Although it was 
started at Brush Hill, being located at the house of James 
Foord, near the head of Robbins street, and received its chief 
patronage from that section of the town, yet the leading citizens 
from all parts of the town joined in it. There were sixty pro¬ 
prietors, among whom are the names of Gov. E. H. Robbins, 
Hon. John Ruggles, Col. William Taylor, Dudley Walker, Ezra 
Coats, William Pierce, Jason Houghton, Caleb Hobart, Samuel 
Gulliver, Rev. Dr. Gile, and other citizens, representing every 
section of Milton. 

About the year 1814 it was removed from Brush Hill to the 
house of Dr. Benjamin Turner, on Canton Avenue, now owned, 
by Mrs. Eldridge ; interest in the enterprise began to flag, and 
it was decided by a majority of the proprietors to wind up the 
concern. 

The corporation w;as dissolved, and the books were sold at 
public auction at the tavern of Major Atherton, Dec. 3, 1819. 



MILTON LIBRARIES. 


291 


The whole amount of sales was $214.28; deducting cost of sales, 
$18.40, there was left the sum of $200.88 to be divided among 
sixty proprietors, giving to each $3.33^. 

The records of this society, in the original manuscripts of its 
secretaries and treasurers, are before me at this writing. They 
will be deposited in the Milton Public Library, fitly represent¬ 
ing the progenitor of that valued institution. 

Nineteen years later was formed 

THE LADIES’ CIRCULATING LIBRARY OF DORCHESTER AND 
MILTON. 

The special purpose of this society is shown in the preamble 
of its constitution. 

To diffuse the taste of literary pursuits, to encourage mental cultiva¬ 
tion, and to enlarge the sphere of social enjoyment, by rendering accessible 
the standard works of genius, and adorning the wayside with the flowers 
of literature, the undersigned ladies of Dorchester and Milton have deter¬ 
mined to establish a circulating library to be owned and conducted accord¬ 
ing to the rules and principles hereinafter prescribed. 

Article 2. Location. — The library shall be kept at some place in the 
village of Dorchester and Milton commonly known as the Lower Mills, the 
place to be fixed, and, if need be, changed by direction of the government. 

Article 3. Admission of members. — Any lady residing in the towns of 
Dorchester and Milton, or the vicinity, may become a member of the asso¬ 
ciation by subscribing to these articles of agreement prior to the organiza¬ 
tion of the government. 

Article 7. Terms of subscription. —The use of the Library shall be 
common to the associates and all other persons who may be approved by the 
government, according to the usages of Circulating Libraries; to wit, by 
an annual subscription which shall secure the right to take out one or more 
books at a time, or by the payment of a specified fee for the use of each 
volume for a given time. The rates of subscription and the amount of the 
fees shall be established by By-Laws, and may be varied from time to time 
by an alteration of the By-Laws if it shall be found expedient. 

June 21, 1838, the following ladies met and organized them¬ 
selves into a society: L. B. Baker, H. Baldwin, C. Sumner, 
P. Rowe, Lucia P. Brown, M. Codman, Eliza Glover, Lucinda 
Baldwin, Mary Morton, Mary B. Churchill. 

This library was organized just at the time to meet a decided 
want of the community, and at once became useful and popular. 
For most of the time it was kept in the building of Deacon 
Martin, near the bridge, a position central and easily accessible 
to both towns. It started with a full supply of standard works 
in science and literature, while the fresh issues of travels, poetry, 
and choice fiction were always found on its shelves. This 
library continued in full and successful operation for upwards 
of thirty years. The opening of Milton Public Library in its 


292 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


immediate vicinity, and the Dorchester Branch of the Boston 
Public Library on the other side of the river, brought its former 
usefulness to an end, and its stock of books was distributed by 
a fair and equitable division between the two towns; those 
assigned to Milton being placed on the shelves of the Public 
Library. 

MILTON AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY. 

An Agricultural Library of several hundred volumes was 
established in Milton about twenty-five years ago in connection 
with the formation of a Farmer’s Club. For a time this club 
held monthly meetings in the Town-House for the discussion of 
topics relating to practical farming. These meetings were often 
attended by good audiences of men and women, who became 
deeply interested in the essays and discussions. The library 
was kept at the Town-House for the benefit of the members of 
the club. Soon after the Milton Public Library was opened, 
by vote of the Farmer’s Club the Agricultural Library was 
transferred to its shelves, and now forms a valuable portion of 
the works on this subject in our Public Library. 

MILTON PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

At a meeting of the town held March 7, 1870, it was “voted 
that the town appropriate the sum of three thousand dollars for 
a Public Library, to be paid to trustees when a like amount 
has been raised by subscription or donation and secured to the 
satisfaction of the selectmen.” It was also “ voted that nine 
trustees be chosen by the town to expend said amount, and 
have charge of said library.” The following gentlemen were 
chosen: — 

Hon. James M. Robbins, 

Rev. Albert K. Teele, 

Rev. John H. Morison, 

Hon. James B. Thayer, 

Mr. A. L. Hollingsworth, 

Hon. Edward L. Pierce, 

Mr. George Yose, 

Mr. George K. Gannett, 

Mr. E. D. Wadsworth. 

The conditional contribution required by the town was 
promptly raised, amounting to $3,192. 

The first meeting of the trustees was held at the house of 
James B. Thayer, on Thursday, Sept. 15,1870. Hon. James M. 
Robbins was elected Chairman, Hon. Edward L. Pierce, Treas¬ 
urer, and Mr. A. L. Hollingsworth, Secretary. 



MILTON LIBRARIES. 


293 


After long and careful deliberation it was decided that the 
location of the Public Library at Milton village would best 
meet the convenience of a majority of the citizens; conse¬ 
quently, the lower story of the building belonging to Mr. 
Edmund J. Baker was leased, fitted up, and furnished for this 
purpose. A committee of the trustees, consisting of Hon. 
Edward L. Pierce, Prof. James B. Thayer, and Mr. A. L. Hol¬ 
lingsworth, was instructed to prepare a list of books, and to 
expend the sum of $3,000 in the purchase of the same. The 
library was opened to the public Feb. 23, 1871, with thirty-five 
hundred volumes on the shelves, selected by the highly compe¬ 
tent and judicious committee. It was voted that the library be 
open every afternoon, except Sunday, from 3 to 8 o’clock, and 
on Saturday morning from 9 to 11 o’clock. The afternoon 
hours remain the same. The Saturday morning opening is now 
from 8 to 11. 

At the opening of the library Miss Jennie E. Emerson w~as 
engaged as librarian, which office she has continued to hold to 
the present time, with the full satisfaction of the trustees and, it 
is believed, of the citizens generally. By a minute and ready 
knowledge of the contents of the library and courteous attention 
to all its patrons, the librarian has afforded much help to 
readers, and contributed, in no small degree, to the usefulness 
of the enterprise. 

By.the regulations of the trustees “any resident of the town 
over the age of fourteen may have the use of the library by 
signing a promise to obey its rules.” The number of such sub¬ 
scriptions for the first day of its opening was one hundred and 
fifty-five, and for the first year, eight hundred. This number 
has increased to two thousand five hundred and forty-four ; but 
only a portion of the cards are in use at the present time. Ihe 
library receives its support from annual appropriations of the 
town and from Milton’s portion of the “ dog tax ” devoted to 
this purpose. The number of volumes purchased annually has 
averaged a little over four hundred, and at this date the library 
contains ten thousand volumes. 

Feb. 11, 1876, the work of increasing 'the library accommo¬ 
dations, which had become necessary from the constant accu¬ 
mulation of books and the increase of readers, was reported as 
completed. By this movement more shelves were furnished 
for the books, and better accommodations to the public. 

EAST MILTON. 

In 1877, and again in 1881, petitions were presented to the 
trustees from the citizens of East Milton, asking for better 


294 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


library accommodations. The trustees decided to try the ex¬ 
periment of having books exchanged once a week, commencing 
Saturday, Feb. 12. After the trial of a few weeks it was voted 
to appropriate the sum of $52 for the delivery and return of 
books between the library and East Milton for one year, 
provision being made for their safety. This was continued for 
two years. 

March 27, 1883. Voted, that the Town accept Mr. Babcock’s offer of his 
room at East Milton, at the rent of $100 per year, and that the said room 
be kept open as a reading-room during the afternoon of each week-day; 
that it be supplied with periodicals, the cost not to exceed $100; that an 
attendant be paid $150 per year. 

Miss Emma C. Emerson was chosen for that position, and is at 
present in charge. The smallest number of }moks ever sent to 
East Milton in one week was thirty-one, and the largest eighty- 
five. 


NEW BUILDING. 

March 21, 1881. It was voted that the trustees accept the 
offer of the Building Company to have a room in the proposed 
Associates Building, which was about to be erected; and in 
May, 1882, the books were removed from their old quarters to 
the handsome and commodious rooms they now occupy. When 
preparing to enter these new apartments the following letter 
was received from H. P. Kidder : — 

Boston, Dec. 30, 1861. 

Rev. A. K. Tef.le, D.D., 

Chairman Trustees Milton Public Library : — 

Mr Dear Sir, —I desire to present to the town of Milton, through the 
Trustees of the Public Library, and to be hung in the Library Reading-room, 
a picture, painted by Voltz, of Munich, it being a cattle-piece of much merit, 
which I hope will be seen with pleasure by all who may visit the room. It 
is now at my house in Milton, and will be delivered whenever you are 
ready to hang it. 

With sincere interest in the welfare of the town and its inhabitants, 

I am, yours most truly, 

H. P. KIDDER. 

This elegant painting now adorns the walls of the reading- 
room, affording a pleasing memorial of our honored and 
departed friend and fellow-citizen. 

I may also add that numbers of our most expensive volumes 
have been secured from the income of afund given to Milton Pub¬ 
lic Library during the life of this same gentleman, and that this 
fund will continue to yield an annual revenue for years to come. 
Several other citizens have shown their interest in the library 
by donations of books. A complete set of the Massachusetts 



MILTON SOCIAL AND BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. 295 

Historical Collections, now out of print and rare, a set of the 
Genealogical Register, nearly complete, with other valuable 
works on early history, have been received from the library of 
the late Hon. Janies M. Robbins, the first President of the Trus¬ 
tees of Milton Public Library, and the only President during his 
life. Miss Betsey Tucker, of Milton, kindly remembered Milton 
Public Library by a bequest in her will of $50. 

In the will of the late Miss Sarah Yose, Milton Public Li¬ 
brary was named as her residuary legatee. By this act of 
exceeding kindness the library has come into possession of the 
handsome sum of about $7,000. 

Ebenezer G. Tucker, a native of Brush Hill, Milton, and for 
most of his life an active and interested citizen here, at his 
decease left to the Milton Public Library a bequest of $500, as a 
perpetual testimony of his interest in his native town, and also 
a volume of town reports. 


MILTON SOCIAL AND BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. 

The objects of this society are shown in the Preamble and 
Articles of Agreement herewith subjoined: — 

PREAMBLE. 

We the subscribers, desirous of forming a Social and Benevolent Society, 
and influenced by a sense of social duty, agree to form ourselves into a 
society, and, as members thereof, to be governed by the following regula¬ 
tions : — 

Article III. 

It shall be the duty of this Society to relieve all objects of charity, so far as 
may be deemed practicable. 

Article IY. 

A Committee of Relief, consisting of three, including the President of this 
Society, shall be chosen at our annual meeting, to inquire out objects of distress, 
and to'dispense such sums as the Society shall vote them, and make a report in 
writing, at the annual meeting, of the money expended, and in what manner. 

Article XI. 

At our meeting in July, we will have a public Address from some popular 
speaker to be chosen by the Society; at which time a contribution may be taken 
up, for the aid of the funds of the Society. Also an Address at our annual 
meeting, from one of the members of the Society, the speaker to be chosen at 
the meeting in October (previous). 

This society was organized by the choice of Samuel Adams, 
President, and Samuel T. Bent, Secretary, and with a member¬ 
ship of twenty-seven, embracing many of the leading citizens of 
Milton. It continued in active operation for several years, sus- 



296 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


taining the general interest by public addresses in July, and by 
its benevolent agencies in the community. On one occasion 
Horace Mann was the lecturer. 

It was finally merged into societies of a kindred nature in 
the several churches, and is still prosecuting its beneficent 
work in the “ Guild of the First Congregational Parish,” and 
in the “ Ladies’ Sewing Circles ” of the First and Second evan¬ 
gelical churches. 

MILTON FEMALE MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 

This society was organized in May, 1833, with a membership 
of forty-three. Its meetings were held monthly at the houses of 
its members in the different sections of the town. It continued 
its work for twenty-five years, creating and perpetuating a mis¬ 
sionary spirit in the church and in the town, and contributing 
to the advancement of the Gospel in our own and in foreign 
lands. 

MILTON SOCIETY OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR. 

The young people of the First Evangelical Church and Society, 
influenced by the general movement throughout Massachusetts 
and Hew England, formed a society of Christian Endeavor, in 
October, 1886. The society is now in interesting operation, 
seeking to exert a good and healthful influence over the young- 
people of the town. The purpose of the society, clearly set 
forth in its name, is to create and cherish in the heart, and to 
show forth in the life, the spirit of Christian love; its aim is to 
go about doing good, especially among those in the morning of 
life. Meetings, open to all, are held weekly on Monday even¬ 
ing, in the church, for prayer and mutual benefit. 


LITERARY SOCIETIES. 

In the history of the town there have been various literary 
societies, in which the early citizens engaged. 

About the year 1826 there was a lyceum called the Dorchester 
and Milton Lyceum, held in the school-house on River street, 
Dorchester. Joseph Rowe and Asaph Churchill, of Milton, took 
an active part in the meetings. Gen. Whitney, Deacon N. C. 
Martin, and other Milton men were members. Among the Dor¬ 
chester men were John Bailey, Dr. Richmond, Francis Hilliard, 
Edmund Baker, Abel Cushing, Davis Capen, also Edmund J. 
Baker and Charles Breck, now living. The Lyceum continued 
for three or five years. The exercises consisted of essays, papers, 
and debates. One question for debate was, whether there should 




INTERESTING PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 


297 


be a universal language. Mr. Churchill, who was a good French 
scholar, maintained that there should be, and that the French 
language should be the language for this purpose. The Lyceum 
so voted, and also voted to memorialize Congress to that effect. 
This was done by Mr. Churchill, who was the committee ap¬ 
pointed for the purpose-. 

There was a Milton Lyceum held at the Town-Hall in the 
winters of 1839-40. James M. Robbins was president, Edmund 
J. Baker, George Thompson, Joseph Rowe, and others took 
active part in debates. N. F. Safford delivered a lecture on the 
“ Greek Revolution.” 

Various other literary circles, reading clubs, book clubs, and 
gatherings for intellectual improvement have been held from 
time to time in the different neighborhoods of the town, and are 
continued to the present day. 


INTERESTING PUBLIC OCCASIONS. 

ORATION IN 1773. 

On Friday evening the 5 ,h of March 1773, was delivered an Oration at 
Milton by Mr. Josiah Brown. In this excellent Performance he endeavored 
to reach the Understanding of his Audience, and seemed to feel with the 
keenest Sensibility for his opposed Country ; and with a manly & virtuous 
Boldness defended its Rights. In short, he stood forth as a Champion of 
the common Rights of Mankind. —Boston Gazette, March 8, 1773. 

EULOGY ON GENERAL WASHINGTON. 

Jan. 30, 1800. The second article in the warrant of the town-meeting, 
held to-day, was as follows: — 

To see what measures the town will take respecting the Presidential 
Proclamation with regal’d to observing the 22d of February next in commem¬ 
oration of the death of General George Washington. 

The town voted to assemble on said twenty-second day of February. 

Voted to choose a person to deliver an oration on said day. 

Mr. Charles Pinckney Sumner was unanimously chosen for the above 
purpose. 

The Selectmen were chosen a committee to wait on the Rev. Mr. 
McKean and Mr. Charles P Sumner, and to request their attendance at the 
Meeting-house at 2 o’clock, afternoon, on said day. 

Mr. Sumner’s oration on that occasion, which was considered 
able and eloquent, and worthy of perusal, was printed by the 
town, and may be found in “ Milton Documents.” Mr. Sumner 
at this time was but twenty-four years of age. Four years later, 
March 5, 1804, he delivered a second address in Milton, on 
Jefferson and the Republican party. 



298 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


EULOGY ON THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT HARRISON. 

A committee of the inhabitants of the town of Milton was 
appointed to make arrangements for taking suitable notice of 
the death of the President of the United States, William Henry 
Harrison. 

Rev. Joseph Angier was appointed orator for the occasion. 

The town assembled in the Unitarian Church, on Friday, May 
14, 1841, and listened to an interesting eulogy pronounced by 
Mr. Angier. This was printed, and a copy of the same is bound 
up with the “ Milton Documents ” in the Public Library. 

CELEBRATION OF NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE. 

The account of the following celebration is found in the 
“ Quincy Patriot,” of Saturday, July 17, 1841: — 

The citizens of Milton, without distinction of party, celebrated the anni¬ 
versary of our National Independence, on Monday, July 5, 1841. 

At eight o’clock in the forenoon a cavalcade, numbering about one 
hundred horses, was formed in front of the Rev. Mr. Angier’s church, under 
the direction of Samuel Adams, Esq., Chief Marshal of the day, which, pro¬ 
ceeding through the principal part of the town, arrived about 11 o’clock at 
his residence, and were entertained by him in a sumptuous and elegant 
manner. From thence the cavalcade resumed its march, and at 12 o’clock 
took up the escort of the Pi'esident of the day. Dr. Amos Holbrook, from his 
mansion, together with the Orator, the Rev.T. M. Clark, of Boston, afterwards 
Bishop Clark, of Rhode Island, to the town-house, where a beautiful sight 
awaited its arrival; the children, tastefully dressed and appropriately ar¬ 
ranged, together with a large concourse of citizens, paraded on the ground, 
and received the cavalcade in an interesting and imposing manner. A pro¬ 
cession was then formed, and marched, to the music of the West Randolph 
band, to the Rev. Mr. Cozzens’ church, where, after a solemn and appro¬ 
priate prayer by Mr. Cozzens, the oration was pronounced. 

The procession then formed anew and proceeded to a spacious pavilion, 
where a large and brilliant assemblage, comprising about three hundred and 
fifty of both sexes, partook of the liberal refreshments provided, and enjoyed 
with the utmost harmony the pleasures of social intercourse. 

Various sentiments, interluded with national songs, were drank with pure 
iced water and lemonade, and the day terminated without an incident to 
damp the general joy. 

We give a few of the volunteer sentiments presented: — 

By Dr. Holbrook, President of the day: — 

• “ Our Fathers. By their wisdom in the council and their valor in the 
field, they laid the foundations of a great republic. May their descendants 
honorably maintain so invaluable a legacy.” 

By General Moses Whitney, one of the Vice-Presidents : — 

“ Our National Independence. Our fathers united to obtain it; may their 
children and their children’s children ever unite in its celebration.” 

By Joseph Rowe, Esq., one of the Vice-Presidents : — 



TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY 


299 


“ Agriculture, Commerce, and Manufactures. The principal and abun¬ 
dant sources of national wealth and independence; may they duly l'eceive 
their adequate share of national protection.” 

By Mr. Caleb Hobart, one of the Vice-Presidents : — 

“ The Cause of Temperance. May it prosper so long as this is a nation.” 

By Samuel Adams, Esq., Chief Marshal: — 

“ The Patriots of the Revolution. There is one present whom we delight 
to honor.” 

By President Quincy, of Harvard College : — 

“ The Town of Milton. Whose fathers contributed their full proportion 
of the heroes who gained the Independence of our Country, and whose 
sons have never failed to be true to its principles.” 

By Dr. Thompson, of Charlestown: — 

“ The Town of Milton. Its name, its beautiful hills, groves, and water¬ 
falls, enshrine the genius and memory of the poet; may his noble senti¬ 
ments live forever in the hearts of its inhabitants.” 

By Rev. Mr. Cunningham, of Milton : — 

“ This Temperance Celebration of the Anniversary of our Independence, — 
in which the champagne has to be smuggled in at the side, whilst the real 
pleasures march in procession.” 

By Edmund J. Baker, Esq.: — 

“ Universal Toleration, Religion, and Temperance. The keystone in the 
dome of the Temple of Liberty.” 

By the Rev. Mr. Bent, of Milton: — 

“"The spot where we are now celebrating our National Independence. So 
long as we have the temple of religion in our front, and the temple of 
science in our rear, we may rely on the endurance of what we cele¬ 
brate.” 


THE TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
INCORPORATION OF MILTON. 

Elaborate preparations were made for the observance of this 
occasion, which occurred June 11, 1862. The morning opened 
bright and beautiful, and was succeeded by one of the perfect 
days of June. A large tent was spread between the church 
and the old Town-House, connected with the latter. The 
sashes were removed from the windows on the west side of the 
hall, and steps were erected for ascending and descending, thus 
opening it to the tent, and furnishing ample room for the great 
assemblage. 

It was a grand meeting, from far and near, of old citizens 
and new, with multitudes of welcome friends and guests, ready 
to rejoice together in celebrating the long life of the dear old 
town. 

At 11 o’clock in the forenoon the services of the occasion 
were opened. Dr. Morison’s church was filled with an audi¬ 
ence crowding all available space, and yet it failed to accommo¬ 
date half of the assemblage. 

The services in the church were as follows : — 



300 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


ORDER OF EXERCISES. 


VOLUNTARY ON THE ORGAN. 


ii. 

ANTHEM. 

O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands; serve the Lord with gladness, 
and come before His presence with a song. 

Be ye sure that the Lord He is God ; it is He that hath made us, and not 
we ourselves ; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 

O go your way into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts 
with praise; be thankful unto Him, and speak good of His name. 

For the Lord is gracious, His mercy is everlasting; and His truth en- 
dureth from generation to generation. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. 

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without 
end. Amen. 


hi. 

PRAYER. 

BY REV. JOHN H. MORISON. 


IV. 

BI-CENTENNIAL HYMN. 

BY MRS. S. D. WHITNEY. 

[Air: Auld Lang Syne.'] 

1. O’er way-posts of two hundred years. 

Along a living line, 

Thought flashes back, through smiles and tears. 
To days of Auld Lang Syne. — 

To days of Auld Lang Syne, my friends, 

To days of Auld Lang Syne; 

Thought flashes back, through smiles and tears. 
To days of Auld Lang Syne. 

2. When o’er a realm of embryo might 

Great summers came to shine, 

And searched a wilderness to light 
The homes of Auld Lang Syne. — 

The homes of Auld Lang Syne, my friends, 

The homes of Auld Lang Syne. 

And searched a wilderness to light 
The homes of Auld Lang Syne. 






TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY. 


301 


3. When all our leagues of level rail 

Lay waiting in the mine, 

And hardy huntsmen trod the trail, 

In days of Auld Lang Syne. — 

In days of Auld Lang Syne, my friends, 

In days of Auld Lang Syne ; 

When hardy huntsmen trod the trail. 

In days of Auld Lang Syne. 

4. When hut the hex-aid hues of morn 

Hope’s blazon might eombine ; 

Our Flag of Stars was yet unborn 
In days of Auld Lang Syne. — 

In days of Auld Lang Syne, my friends, 

In days of Auld Lang Syne ; 

Our Flag of Stars was yet unborn 
In days of Auld Lang Syne. 

5. Small need those pilgrim heroes had 

Of Freedom’s outer sign; 

Her mighty heart beat high and glad 
In breasts of Auld Lang Syne ! — 

In breasts of Auld Lang Syne, my friends, 
In breasts of Auld Lang Syne ; 

Her mighty heai*t beat high and glad 
In breasts of Auld Lang Syne. 

6. We trace the centui'ies’ double span, 

We measure their design, 

And grasp the greatness that began 
Far back in Auld Lang Syne. — 

Far back in Auld Lang Syne, my friends, 
Far back in Auld Lang Syne ; 

We grasp the greatness that began 
Far back in Auld Lang Syne. 

7. Where hands are strong and hearts are tx-ue, 

Still speeds the work divine; 

To-day is grand with deeds to do, 

As days of Auld Lang Syne. — 

As days of Auld Lang Syne, my friends, 

As days of Auld Lang Syne ; 

To-day is grand with deeds to do, 

As days of Auld Syne. 

8. And still, with souls like those of yore, 

Steadfast through stoi-m and shine, 

God bless us, as he blessed before 
The men of Auld Lang Syne ! — 

The men of Auld Lang Syne, my fidends. 
The men of Auld Lang Syne ; 

God bless us, as he blessed before 
The men of Auld Lang Syne! 


302 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


V. 

ADDRESS. 

BY HON. JAMES M. ROBBINS. 


HYMN. 

[Air: America.~\ 


1. My country! ’tis of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty, 

Of thee I sing. 

Land where my fathers died, 
Land of the Pilgrim’s pride, 
From every mountain side 
Let freedom ring. 


2. My native country, thee ! 
Land of the noble free! 

Thy name I love. 

I love thy rocks and rills, 

Thy woods and templed hills, 
My heart with rapture thrills 
Like that above. 


3. Our fathers’ God, to Thee, 
Author of liberty, 

To Thee we sing. 

Long may our land be bright 
With freedom’s holy light; 
Protect us by Thy might, 
Great God, our King! 


VII. 

BENEDICTION. 

BY REV. ALBERT K. TEELE. 


From the church the assembly repaired to the pavilion, where 
tables were spread by the town, furnishing refreshments for 
all, and strains of sweetest music delighted the ear. 

Here the remainder of the day was passed in the enjoyment 
of sentiments, speeches, and festivities suited to the occasion. 

The address of Mr. Robbins was at once printed, and secured 
a wide circulation in the town and vicinity. It presents in an 
interesting way the chief points in our history, and thus saves 
to the town a small part of that extensive knowledge of the 
early times and early men of Milton, most of which has passed 
away with our honored citizen. 

ANNIVERSARY OF THE SUFFOLK RESOLVES. 

On the recurrence of the one hundredth anniversarj^ of the 
passage of the famous Suffolk Resolves, Sept. 9,1874, the citizens 
of Milton and vicinity assembled in the very building, and in 
the very rooms, occupied by the illustrious men of revolutionary 




CORPORATE SEAL OF MILTON. 


803 


fame, and then adjourning to Johnson’s Hall opposite, joined in 
an appropriate observance of that memorable occasion. The 
presiding officer of the meeting was the Hon. Henry L. Pierce, 
a lineal descendant of Daniel Yose, who was a prominent actor 
among the delegates, and at whose house they met. The 
Suffolk Resolves were read by the Hon. Edward L. Pierce, 
and stirring speeches were made by the Hon. N. F. Safford, 
Edmund J. Baker, Esq., and other citizens. 

This was followed by a valuable paper, printed in the “Ded¬ 
ham Transcript,” Sept. 12, 1874, from the pen of our honored 
citizen, Nathaniel F. Safford, in which were vividly portrayed 
incidents and events connected with that remarkable man, the 
framer of the resolves. 


CORPORATE SEAL OF MILTON. 

The Town Seal now in use, and the only authorized seal the 
town has ever had, was adopted at the annual meeting, March 
4, 1878. 

We here introduce the report of the committee appointed to 
prepare the same. 

TOWN SEAL. 



To the Selectmen of Milton : — 

Gentlemen, — The undersigned, who were requested by you to prepare 
a Seal for the Town of Milton, have completed the work, and beg leave to 
present the following report: -- 

The duty required of them seemed, at first, small; but in fixing upon 
a suitable device, and in establishing the same by historical facts, much 
care and research have been found necessary. 

They have received valuable assistance from the Library of Harvard 
College and from the Boston Public Library. They are also indebted, for 
judicious suggestions and reliable information, to Edmund J. Baker, Esq., 
a gentleman versed, above others, in our early history. 

The design represents facts drawn from earlj T times. 

In the foreground is Neponset river, the original as well as present 
northern boundary of the town. On the river is represented a small vessel, 



304 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


from which two of the people have just landed to traffic with the Indians, 
whose wigwams appear on lower part of the shield. 

The first business of Milton was trading in furs with the Indians. 

In 1619 William Trevour took possession of the island, now known as 
Thompson’s Island, for the undoubted purpose of traffic in furs. Seven 
years later, in 1626, David Thompson, the first recorded settler of Boston 
Harbor, “obtained a grant and patent for the quiet, peaceable possession” 
of this island, henceforth known by his name, and established quite an 
extensive trade with the Neponset Indians, who were famous trappers. 

The seat of the Neponset Indians was at the head of navigation on the 
Neponset river. At the falls, which they called Unquety Quissett, they 
obtained their fish; and the low lands along its tributaries were their 
trapping-grounds. Unquety was their favored abode. From hence they 
made excursions down the river to sell their skins ; to the “ Massachusetts 
Fields,” their planting ground, south of the river; and to Mount Hope, to 
bury their dead. Their cornfields were found in all parts of our town. 

The first visit of the “ Pilgrim Fathers ” to Milton was on the 21st of 
September, A.D. 1621. “ Sept. 18, 1621, ten men left Plymouth, with the 

Indian Tisquantum as guide and interpreter, to visit the Massachusetts.” 
They landed first, probably,.at “ Nantasket Head,” and the next day sailed 
over, and landed at Squantum, so called from their interpreter. On the 
morning of the 21st they “ marched in arms three miles into the country, 
where corn had been newly gathered.” This brought them, perhaps, to 
the locality called “Mount Hope,” the burial-place of their warriors, as 
proved by the graves, beads, and Indian utensils found there, — beads taken 
from these graves being now in the possession of Mr. Edmund J. Baker; 
or among the open lands of East Milton, suited to the culture of corn; 
proceeding two miles farther, very likely to “ Thacher's Plain,” lying 
between Brook road and Mattapan street, where, tradition says, the 
Indians had cornfields, “ they found the women with the corn in heaps, 
whither they had fled from fear.” At first they were afraid, but soon, the 
men joining them, “ they were willing to entertain their guests and trade 
for their skins.” The narrative continues : “ Having well spent the day, we 
returned to the shallop, the women accompanying us. We promised them 
to come again, and they to save their skins for us. Thus, with a considera¬ 
ble quantity of beaver, and a good report of the place, wishing we had 
been seated there, we returned to our home.” 

Among the first exports of the Plymouth Colony were two hogsheads of 
beavei'-skins, by the “ Fortune,” which sailed from Plymouth Dec. 13,1621. 

In later years Richard Collicut and John Holman, early citizens of 
Milton, were among the principal Indian traders. 

On the sinister or left of the shield are represented implements of 
agriculture, — the plough, scythe, and rake; also a sheaf of wheat, and a 
few stalks of corn, — emblems of our agricultural town. 

On the dexter or right of the shield appears a shallop on the stocks. 

Nehemiah Bourne, the son of a ship-builder of London, came here in 
the ship business. He owned a part of the land on Milton Hill, between 
Col. Israel Stoughton and William Hutchinson, running back to the marsh. 
Bray Wilkins was also an owner of land in this same locality, and 
interested in the ship business. He received a license from the General 
Court in 1638 to run a ferry-boat from a point of land between Granite and 
Neponset bridges, called “ the ridge,” to the Public Landing at Davenport’s 
Creek, for the accommodation of those who wish to take merchandise to 
Boston before roads were laid out. Stephen Kingsley, one of the “ precinct 
inhabitants,” and the first preacher in Milton, lived on the Nathan 
Babcock estate; he owned the whole tract of land from thence south- 


CORPORATE SEAL OF MILTON. 


305 


easterly to Gulliver’s Creek. Anthony Gulliver married a daughter of 
Stephen Kingsley, and came into possession of a part of the Kingsley 
estate; and from him the Landing took its name. Anthony Gulliver and 
Stephen Kingsley also purchased, Feb. 26, 1656, of Richard Hutchinson 
and Edward Hutchinson, sons and heirs of Richard Hutchinson, of London, 
a large tract of land bounded northerly on Gulliver’s Creek. — Suffolk 
Registry , Lib. 3, Fol. 5. 

In 1640 Gulliver’s Landing was laid out, for the convenience of the in¬ 
habitants who were ship-builders, and was the port of the town. Gulliver’s 
Creek, now but ten feet wide at the landing, was then a navigable stream, 
where vessels of forty tons could be passed. 

Governor Winthrop built the first vessel, of about thirty tons, called the 
“Blessing of the Bay,” at Medford, launched July 4, 1631. Soon after 
vessels of small size, called shallops, were built at or near Gulliver’s Land¬ 
ing, and the business was continued there for many years. Among the 
early citizens engaged in this occupation are the following names: Will¬ 
iam Salsbury, Anthony Newton, Walter Morey, and Nicholas Ellen. 

On the upper part of the shield, in the distance, appear the Blue Hills of 
Milton. 

The crest is an exact representation of the north-western view of the 
ancient church of Milton Abbey, in Dorsetshire, England. This requires a 
careful and minute explanation. 

Milton Abbas, or Abbey Milton, is situated in Dorsetshire, six miles 
south-west from Blandford, and about ten miles north-east from Dorchester. 
It lies in a deep vale enclosed by very deep, chalky hills on the north and 
south. Its first name was Middletown, from the fact of its location in the 
centre of the county. In process of time the name was contracted to Mil- 
ton, which name it has borne for many centuries. The earliest mention 
made of it was in the reign of King Athelstan, who founded an abbey here, 
and brought it into repute. This abbey was founded in A.D. 938 ; imme¬ 
diately thereupon the town rose in importance ; and, in the ancient time of 
“ Abbatial grandure,” was the central market of the county. 

“In the year 1309, Sept. 2d, a terrible storm of lightning happened 
about eight o’clock in the evening, and the church of Middleton, bell- 
tower and bells, were, by the lightning burned down and destroyed.” It 
was rebuilt in 1310-11, and has remained to the present century in all its 
ancient grandeur. 

Feb. 23, A.D. 1539, the 31st of Henry VIII., the King granted to John 
Tregonwell, Esq., for £1,000, and resigning a pension of £10 per annum, 
the site of Milton Abbey. 

In 1752 it was sold by the Tregonwell heirs to Joseph Damer, created 
Lord Milton in 1753, and Earl of Dorchester in .1792. In the time of the 
Earl of Dorchester a large part of the ancient pile was demolished, but the 
church remained unchanged. 

In the year 1814, Hon James M. Robbins, one of this committee, passed 
leisurely through the whole county of Dorsetshire. Riding from Dorches¬ 
ter toward Milton, and making inquiries of a fellow-traveller respecting 
the country and inhabitants, his attention was directed to the mansion of 
Esquire Tucker, a member of Parliament, and a man of note in the county. 
He learned, moreover, that the Tucker family was a numerous and influen¬ 
tial family in that section. 

The proximity of these familiar towns, together with the mention of a 
family so common at home, sent his thoughts across the waters to the old 
Milton, of Massachusetts, and suggested a clew to the origin of the name of 
our town. 

Robert Tucker came to Weymouth, Mass., about the time of the incor 


306 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


poration of that town. He is supposed to have accompanied a party that 
came to New England about 1635 with the Rev. Mr. Hull, from the vicin¬ 
ity and town of Weymouth, Dorsetshire; and to the place before called 
Wassagusset they gave the name of Weymouth. He held office in Wey¬ 
mouth for several years, and thence moved to Gloucester, where he was 
Town Recorder, and back again to Weymouth. 

He came to Milton about 1662, and, the supposition is, was preceded by 
some of his family, as he purchased a large tract of land on “ Brush Hill,” 
in 1663, bounded westerly on land of James Tucker, supposed to be his 
oldest son. He was the first Town Recorder; was selectman for several 
years; and represented the town at the General Court for the years 1680 
and 1681. 

The argument is, that Robert Tucker, or, if not he, others who came from 
the same locality, and perhaps through his influence, followed the very 
common custom of naming the towns in the new world, from those with 
which they were familiar, and from their homes in the old world. 

Milton, of Dorset, at the time they left England, retained something of 
its ancient importance and renown. 

Our fathers had already appropriated Dorchester, Weymouth, and other 
towns of Old England as names for these new towns ; it is natural to con¬ 
clude that they chose the name of Milton for this town from the famed old 
Milton, of Dorsetshire. 

Your committee believe this to be the origin of the name of this town. 
They have, therefore, adopted as a crest of the shield, a view of the ancient 
Church of Milton Abbey. 

The motto, which appears on the scroll, is selected from the sixth line 
of the First Eclogue of Virgil, — 

“Deus nobis ieec otia fecit.” 

“ God has given us this tranquillity — or these pleasant things ,” 
which was thought to be appropriate to our beautiful town. 

All of which is respectfully submitted, 

ALBERT K. TEELE, 
JAMES M. ROBBINS, 
CHARLES BRECK. 


CHANGES. 

In this era of genealogical research some new points have 
been discovered respecting the birthplace of Robert Tucker 
since the above report was presented, which would lead us to 
modify the report, but in no important sense to change its con¬ 
clusions regarding the origin of the name of our town. 

As will be seen in the chapter on “ Incorporation, Name, and 
Boundaries,” it is probable that Robert Tucker, referred to in 
the report, was born in Milton-next-Gravesend, county of Kent. 
If this is so, the ground-work of the argument in the report, 
referring to the origin of the name of the town, which is there 
only supposition, becomes almost certainty; and these revela¬ 
tions render it even more probable that Robert Tucker and his 
associates were influential in giving our town the name of Milton, 
from the home of their ancestry and birth in the old country. 




POST-OFFICES. 


307 


Had this been earlier known, the committee might have 
adopted as the crest of the shield the front of the ancient Mil- 
ton-next-Gravesend Church, now five hundred and thirty-two 
years old. And yet, what more fitting to embellish the munici¬ 
pal seal of our Milton than a representation of the famed Milton 
Abbey, founded A.D. 938; the name of which has been sound¬ 
ing abroad for near a thousand years, until twenty towns in the 
old country have adopted it, and the people, in grateful remem¬ 
brance of their childhood’s home, have brought it with them to 
this new land, where thirty-two towns have appropriated the 
name, the first and oldest of which is believed to be our own 
municipality? 


“MILTON NEWS.” 

“ The Milton News,” a weekly paper, was established at 
Milton village about five years ago. 

Two years after it started the paper passed into the hands of 
W. A. Woodward, who is still the editor and proprietor. It 
has had a constantly increasing list of subscribers, and meets a 
needed want as the medium for local advertisement and the 
vehicle of town news. 


POST-OFFICES. 

As the early records at Washington were destroyed by fire, 
it is impossible to ascertain, from official sources, the exact date 
of the establishment of the first post-office ‘in Milton. The 
office is known to have been in existence in 1801, or before. 
Dr. Samuel R. Glover was the first postmaster. It was located 
at the Lower Mills in the “ Stanle} r House,” then a public house 
kept by Mrs. William Badcock. The mail was brought by a 
carrier, on horseback; it was packed in a small travelling-bag, 
which also contained the mails of other towns. It was re¬ 
ceived once a week, on Thursday. 

Dr. Glover was succeeded by Gen. Moses Whitney, who was 
appointed Dec. 19, 1805, and held the office until 1817. Under 
his administration the office was kept in the building now owned 
by Robert Gordon, on the corner of Adams street and Canton 
avenue. 

Nathan C. Martin was the third postmaster; he was ap¬ 
pointed Nov. 4, 1817; he kept the office in his store, just north 
of the railroad, until 1839 ; he was succeeded by 

Edmund J. Baker, who was appointed April 1,1839, and kept 
the office, first, in a building standing where Chapman and 




308 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Strangeman’s shops are, and afterwards in the building which 
stood on the site of Associates Hall, in which the Public Library 
was first located. 

George Thompson followed Mr. Baker as fifth postmaster, 
Jan. 19,1844, and continued in office until May 29, 1849. 

Mr. Martin was reappointed as the successor of Mr. Thomp¬ 
son, and held the office until his death, Aug. 26, 1864, making 
the entire term of his service about thirty-seven years. Oct. 
20, 1864, Louis N. Tucker received the appointment, but de¬ 
clined to serve. 

The seventh postmaster was Henry Pope, who kept the of¬ 
fice in a part of the building now the provision-store of George 
Everett; at his decease, in 1880, his widow, Mrs. Abigail F. 
Pope, was appointed postmistress of Milton, and soon after the 
office was removed to its present locality in “ Associates Build¬ 
ing.” Mrs. Pope died in 1883, while in office, and was succeeded 
by the present incumbent. 

Henry A. Pope, the ninth postmaster of Milton, commis¬ 
sioned July 16, 1883. At this office there are morning, noon, 
and evening mails sent out and received. 

EAST MILTON POST-OFFICE. 

A post-office was established at East Milton in April, 1872, 
with J. William Babcock as postmaster. It is now in charge 
of Josiah Babcock as postmaster, appointed 1879; at this of¬ 
fice mails arrive and leave three times daily. 

BLUE H ILL POST-OFFICE. 

A post-office was established April 1, 1874, on Canton ave¬ 
nue, near Harland street, named “ Blue Hill.” Stillman L. 
Tucker was appointed postmaster. It sends out and receives 
one mail daily, at six o’clock P.M., through the Mattapan office. 


DORCHESTER AND MILTON BANK. 

The Dorchester and Milton Bank was incorporated by an 
act of the Legislature passed March 17, 1832; capital stock, 
$100,000. The persons named in the act of incorporation were 
as follows: Moses Whitney, Darius Breftver, Samuel Bridge, 
Caleb Hobart, Robert P. Tolman, Abel Cushing, and Asaph 
Churchill. 





DORCHESTER AND MILTON BANK. 


809 


The subscribers to the stock met on the 2d day of April, 1832, and accepted 
the Act of Incorporation, adopted a Code of By-Laws, and elected the fol¬ 
lowing-named persons Directors, yiz.: —Joseph Rowe, Moses Whitney, 
Caleb Hobart, Gridley Bryant, of Milton, Darius Brewer, Cheever Newhall. 
Robert P. Tolman, and Enoch Baldwin, of Dorchester, Josiah Brigham, of 
Quincy, Leonard Everett, of Canton, and James Littlefield, of Stoughton. 

The first meeting of the directors was held April 30, 1832. The board 
was organized by the election of Moses Whitney as President; and at a 
meeting held May 22, 1832, Hananiah Temple was elected Cashier. The 
Directors leased the rooms over Mr. R. P. Tolman’s store in Dorchester for 
the uses and purposes of the bank, at a rental of $70 per annum. 

After the organization of the Board of Directors, and such other prelim¬ 
inary forms as were required bylaw, the bank opened its doors for business 
on the 7th day of July, 1832. 

June 7, 1836, H. Temple resigned his office as Cashier. 

June 14, 1836, Joseph L. Hammond was elected Cashier. 

Sept. 29, 1848, Joseph L. Hammond vacated his office as Cashier. 

E. J. Bispham was appointed Cashier pro tem. 

At a meeting of the stockholders held on the 11th day of October, 1848, 
the following-named persons were elected Directors, viz.: Darius Brewer, 
E. J. Bispham, William Pierce, Roswell Gleason, Hananiah Temple, E. J. 
Baker, Asaph Churchill, and Tho. Liversidge. 

At a meeting of the Directors on the 17th of October, 1848, H. Temple 
was elected President, and E. J. Bispham was elected Cashier. 

On the night of June 1, 1850, the bank vault was forcibly entered by 
burglars, and $31,921.57 of funds of the bank stolen therefrom. 

March 28, 1851. Name of bank changed from “Dorchester and Milton 
Bank” to “Blue Hill Bank, of Dorchester,” and the capital increased to 
$150,000. 

Oct., 1853. H. Temple, President, resigned the office of President and 
director, and Asaph Churchill was elected President. 

At the annual meeting, Oct. 3, 1864, it was voted to organize the Blue 
Hill Bank as a national institution under the United States banking laws, 
and provision so to do was obtained from the government. December, 
1864, the organization was effected, and the capital increased to $200,000. 

Sept., 1867. The bank was entered by three burglars, at about 12 
o’clock M. The Cashier was struck down, gagged, and bound, and the 
bank robbed of about $20,000 of bonds and money. 

1872. The bank removed to building erected for its use on the corner 
of Washington and Richmond streets, Dorchester, and the capital was 
increased to $300,000. 

1876, Jan. Asaph Churchill resigned the office of President, and 
was succeeded in that office by E. J. Bispham. Mr. Bispham having re¬ 
signed the office of Cashier, Mr. S. J. Willis was elected Cashier. 

1879. The capital was reduced $100,000, leaving the capital stock 

$ 200 , 000 . 

1882. The name of “ Blue Hill National Bank, of Dorchester,” was 
changed to the name of “Blue Hill National Bank, of Milton,” and the 
bank was removed to rooms in Associates Building in Milton. The bank 
building was sold to the city of Boston. 


310 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


MILTON HORSE-THIEF SOCIETY. 

As the Milton society for apprehending horse-thieves, and the 
recovery of stolen horses, is one of our old and very useful 
societies, we have thought that a brief history of its use and 
progress might be interesting to the citizens of the town, as well 
as to its members. 

It was one of the many societies started nearly seventy years 
ago for the mutual protection of its members against the crime 
of horse-stealing, which, at that time, was very much more prev¬ 
alent than at present. Those whose memory runs back to the 
time of its formation know that horse-stealing was then a very 
common affair, so much so that the wise heads of the time 
thought proper to establish this society. It was formed Feb. 15, 
1819, and a constitution and by-laws were adopted for the 
government of the society. It started with about sixty-four 
members, all of whom are now dead. There have since been 
added to the society about four hundred and twenty-six, making 
about four hundred and ninety in all. About two hundred of 
these are now living. There has been paid into the treasury 
since its formation about $500 for membership. Since the 
society was formed there have been but seven horses stolen from 
its members, all of vvhich have been recovered by the society. 

The expenses of the society thus far have been, for the re¬ 
covery of horses, pay of treasurer, clerk, and printing, about 
$834; cash on hand, $250; whole amount, $1,082, — which 
shows that our treasurers, one of whom managed the funds for 
forty years, have neither run off nor defaulted. 

Since the formation of the society it has had eight different 
presidents: BarneyGhnith, two years; John Haggles, twenty 
years ; MosiahdPairban-k, two years ; A. 'TAFreneh,-three years ; 

‘-Ghgyles^Breyk, ten years; Dana Tucker, five years; Samhel 
Cdek, seven years; Geo. K. Gannett, the present incumbent, 
eighteen years. It has had six treasurers : Jedediah Atherton, 
six years; Lemuel Babcock, ten years; Jeremiah Crehore, two 
years ; C. C. Crehore, six years ; T. T. Wadsworth, forty years; 
E. D. Wadsworth, the present one, three years. It has had nine 
clerks: Wm. Crehore,four years ; Ebenezer Billings, one year; 
Benjamin Turner, five years; Nathaniel Davenport, three 
years; C. F. Bronsdon, one year; Dana Tucker, twelve years; 
Timothy Tucker, seventeen years; Charles Breck, the present 
one, twenty-five years. 



FIRE DEPARTMENT. 


311 


FIRE DEPARTMENT. 

The earliest recorded movement in the direction of a fire 
department was the formation of a society called the “Fire- 
ward Society oe Dorchester and Milton” in 1793. Indi¬ 
viduals on both sides of the river united in the purchase of a 
fire-engine for the benefit of the estates of share-owners. One 
share represented a hundredth part of the engine and fund of 
the society. A certificate of the membership is seen below: — 


T HIS entitles 

to one Share or Hundredth Part of the Engine and 
Fund of the Fireward Society in Dorchefler and 
Milton , and to be a Member of the faid Society, 
according to their articles agreed upon for the relief 
of thofe who may be diftreffed with calamitous Fire. 



Committee. 

fan* 


The towns of Dorchester and Milton joined in the enterprise 
by exempting members of the company from military duty, and 
afterwards by refunding the poll-tax to each member. In Mil- 
ton, some years later, this was changed to an annual salary for 
each member, first of five, and then of ten dollars. 

The first machine was a small hand-engine, filled by leather 
buckets, which were ranged along the poles of the engine. 
Members of the society and chief citizens owned two or more of 
these fire-buckets, which were generally hung in the front hall 
of the house, for ready use. 




812 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


The “ Fountain ” was the first suction-engine in the vicinity. 
This was located near the end of the bridge, on the Dorchester 
side, and afterwards near the stable of Brock & Crane, on Adams 
street. It was manned by thirty-two men from Milton, with 
an equal number from Dorchester. At a later date the “Alert,” a 
Dorchester engine, was located on the Milton side, between the 
river and the trench, at Mattapan ; this, too was manned, in part, 
by Milton men, and was ready for the protection of Milton 
property. No other provision was made by the town of Milton 
for protection against fire for the next fifty years. 

HYDRANT ENGINE. 

In 1845 the hydrant engine was purchased by the town, at 
the cost of $1,200, and in connection with this the Granite Hook 
and Ladder Company was formed. The engine-house was 
located on Adams street, East Milton, just south of Gulliver’s 
brook. In 1873 it was removed to its present location on Granite 
avenue. 

ninety’s hose company. 

In 1845 the town purchased two hundred and fifty feet of 
hose to use in connection with the pump at Webb & Twombly’s 
mill, and in 1848 the Ninety’s Hose Company was formed. 
It took its name from the “ 87 Hose Company ” spoken of in 
“ Doesticks,”—a volume issued about that time. In 1861 pipes 
were laid from the mill to Canton avenue, and six hydrants 
were located. The Ninety’s are in charge of this village sec¬ 
tion, and have done valuable service at several village fires. 

CHEMICAL ENGINE. 

A chemical engine was purchased by the town in 1881, cost¬ 
ing $2,000; and an engine-house was built on the land belong¬ 
ing to the town in the rear of the Town-Hall, at the expense of 
$3,195. 

FIRE-ALARM TELEGRAPH. 

The fire-alarm telegraph was erected through the town in 
1882-3. It consists of twenty-three miles of wire; eighteen 
signal-boxes ; two tower bell-strikers; and five six-inch gongs, 
with a battery power of seventy-two jars. 

RESERVOIRS. 

There are six reservoirs in town, in the following places : One 
at the Town-Hall, one on Central avenue, near the opening of 




TOWN PROPERTY. 


313 


the street now in process of building. Four at East Milton, 
located as fallows: on Granite place; at the corner of Adams 
and Mechanic’s streets ; at the corner of Mechanic’s street and 
Granite avenue ; and at the corner of Adams street and Granite 
avenue. 

At the March meeting of the town, 1887, an appropriation 
was voted for the purchase of a steam fire-engine, and also 
for a suitable engine-house. The building is now being erected 
at Milton Centre, on the town land, near the Chemical Engine 
House. 

PRESENT CONDITION OF MILTON FIRE DEPARTMENT. 

The present condition of our fire department may be learned 
from the last report of William S. Leavitt, Chief Engineer. 

The organization of the department consists of a Board of four 
Engineers and a Chief Engineer. 

Manual Force. 

The manual force of the department consists of eighty-one members — one 
driver of the Chemical Engine, and eighty call men, distributed as follows : — 

Hydrant Engine.forty-five men. 

Granite Hook and Ladder . . . twenty-five men. 

Chemical Engine.five men. 

Ninety’s Hose.five men. 

Apparatus. 

The apparatus now in the service consists of one engine ; one hook and 
ladder truck; one chemical engine, with two horses; three hose-jumpers ; 
and one supply wagon. 


TOWN PROPERTY. 

In addition to the town farm and buildings, the town-hall, 
school-houses, engines, engine-houses, lock-up, gravel-pits, stone- 
crusher and engine, fire-alarm telegraph, with the land under 
and around the same and the equipments and appurtenances 
thereunto belonging, the town owns two landing-places. 

One is at East Milton, known as Gulliver’s Landing, laid out 
by Dorchester in 1658, at first embracing two or more acres of 
land at the mouth of Gulliver’s Creek. This has belonged to 
Milton for two hundred and twenty years, during all which 
time it has been useless and unproductive, yielding little, if any, 
income to the town ; only serving as a bathing-place for boys. 

The other landing-place is at the Lower Mills, or Milton 
village. The condition of this was but little better than that of 





314 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Gulliver’s Landing. It had fallen into disuse and had gone to 
decay, and, being considered public property, had been made a 
place of deposit for all the rubbish of the village. 

In this condition of things an act was obtained from the 
Legislature, putting it into the hands of commissioners, to be 
chosen annually, three from Dorchester and three from Milton, 
who were to have entire control of the landing-place, and to 
improve it as best they could without calling on the towns 
for money. 

After years of labor the commissioners succeeded in putting 
the property into such condition as to meet all expenditures 
in repairs and betterments, and to accumulate quite a sum for 
contemplated improvements in new wharves ; and at this junc¬ 
ture another act was passed by the Legislature taking the 
landing-place out of the hands of the commissioners, and plac¬ 
ing it under the control of the town of Milton. 

By the judicious and energetic management of the commis¬ 
sioners, the property which they had received as worthless, and 
almost a nuisance, was delivered up to the town in good condi¬ 
tion and yielding an annual income of $225, besides six shares 
of the Blue Hill National Bank, and a balance in cash of $5.41. 

The estimated value of the town property, real and personal, 
by the appraisal of 1886, is $156,549.45. 


VARIOUS TOWN VOTES. 

Ladders — For as much as the Select men find by experience that divers 
houses are in danger to be burned, and the danger is many times greater 
for want of ladders near at hand, it is therefore ordered by the Select men 
that every householder within o r towne shall have a sufficient ladder that 
shall reach the top of his house stand at his dwelling house by the last 
day of the fifth month next, on penalty of ten shillings, and if any such pei'- 
son as aforesaid shall refuse or neglect to get a ladder as aforesaid, by the 
aforesaid time, every such person shall forfeit ten shillings to the town’s 
use and five shillings for every month after. Milton, Feb. 24, 1670. 

Whipped — At a Town Meeting in Milton the 8th of Decemb r 1673 Dinah 
Sylvester was. whipped with 20 stripes Being appointed thereto by the 
County Court, in the presence of the Select men, and presently after Ed¬ 
ward Vose Constable did deliver her and her child to the Select men to be 
provided for. 

Horses — At a Meeting of the Select men 18, 12, 1679 It was voted that 
all horses that go upon Common within our town be sufficiently fastened 
or shackeled by the first day of May on penalty of 2 3 6 a pees except colts 
under one year old, so that if any horses as aforesaid be taken in common 
within half a mile of any corn field within our town it shall be lawful for 
any inhabitant of our town to pound any such horses in the common pound. 

Swine — At a meeting of the Select men 20 : 12: 1679 It was ordered 
that all swine shall be sufficiently yoked, and also all swine that dow 




VARIOUS TOWN VOTES. 


315 


damnify pasture or meadow by routing, persons complaininge, the own¬ 
ers of the aforesaid swine shall ringe them sufficiently on penalty of six 
pence a swine for every time of so doing damage. The yoke shall be six 
inches about the neck and three inches below the lower ford. 

Lanslet Perse shall be Hayward of the Pound in Milton. 

Black Birds — 1740 March 10. Voted that from the first of April 1740 
to the fifteenth day of June following, any person that belongs to the town 
of Milton shall kill any grown Crow Black Birds, shall have four pence a 
piece out of the Town Treasury as a reward for killing and destroying the 
Same, and for every Red winged or hen of the smaller size two pence a 
piece, they being killed in the Town of Milton and they bringing to the 
Town Treasurer the upper part of the head and bill of each bird so killed 
within the time above s d , and no reward shall be given for any after the 
time is Expired, nor for any that shall be killed before the time begins. 
Voted in the Affirmative. 

Deer —1740 March 10.—Joseph Hunt & Benjamin Crane were chosen 
to prosecute any person that should violate or break an Act or law of this 
Province entitled an Act or Law for the better preservation or increase of 
Deer, and to take care that the violators thereof be duly prosecuted and 
punished. 

Ne iiemiah Clap, Town Clerk. 

Dogs — July 8, 1755. Voted that if any persons shall let their Dog or 
Dogs come to the Meeting House more than once on the Sabbath Days they 
shall pay one shilling or forfeit their dogs. 

Oeese — March 12, 1756. Voted that Geece be not sufferred to go at 
large from the first day of April next till the last day of October next 
Voted that four pence be paid by the owner of the Geece, for each Goose 
found going at large between the dates to the person finding the goose at 
large. 

Battle Snakes — March 4, 1757. Voted that one shilling be allowed 
and paid out of the treasury of the town as a bounty for each Rattle Snake 
killed in the Town this year to the person that shall kill any Rattle Snake 
in this Town and bring the rattles and one inch of the Taile joyning to the 
rattles to either of the Select men of this town, who shall keep the rattles 
to them so brought. 

Shire Town —March 10, 1760. Voted to Chuse a Committee to join 
with the Committees of other towns to petition the Great and Genei'al Court 
for a division of the County of Suffolk, Samuel Miller Esq. William Tucker 
and Mr Josiah How was chose a committee for that purpose. 

Voted that this Committee do what they can, that this Town of Milton 
be the Sheire Town. 

Store — March 9, i761. Voted to choose a Committee to agree with 
Mr Henry Stone of Stoughton about setting up a Store House on the south 
side of the Neponset River between the widow Jenkins house and the 
Great Bridge. 

Salt Peter — Voted to take the article in the warrant relating to the 
manufacture of Salt Peter into consideration. Dr Samuel Gardner, Mr 
Josiah Vose and Mr Stephen Badcock were chosen a committee on this 
article — at a subsequent meeting the committee reported, that they think 
it advisable for the Town to Set up the works, and to employ such per¬ 
son or persons to cany it on as they shall think proper; and recommend 
it to the inhabitants to encourage every private person that inclines to 
set it up. 

Notices — The 21 of March, 1776. Surtain town orders was by the 



316 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Select mens order drawn out of this book to be posted up at the Meeting 
House — as namely 

The first about the setting up of fence. — 2 a about Swine. — 3 d about hors- 
cese. —4 th about opening gats or bars set on ways. — 5 th about anoyance of 
wais. 6 th about sheep going with a keeper, and set up according to order. 

Negro Slaves —Under the order passed Nov 19, 1754. That the 
Assessors of the several towns & districts within the Province send to the 
Secretaries office the exact number of the Negro Slaves both male & female 
sixteen years old and upwards that are within their towns & districts the 
following returns were made from Milton: — 

Milton, December 12, 1754. 

We the subscribers Assessors in obedience to the within written order, 
have taken account of the Negro Slaves both male & female that are six¬ 
teen years old and upward, and find in the Town of Milton fifteen males 
and four females and no more that we know of. 

Nathaniel Houghton, h Assessors 
Benj a Wadsworth, > of 

William Tucker, ) Milton. 

Dog's Heads — “ Voted to pay $2.00 a head for all dogs going at large 
and not being muzzled from Dec. 18, 1818, to Dec. 18, 1849.”—In ac¬ 
cordance with this vote seventeen dogs’ heads were brought to the Town 
Treasurer within the period limited, for which he paid a bounty of $34.00. 



SCHOOLS. 


317 


CHAPTER XI. 


SCHOOLS. 


UR fathers were positively religious. The church and 



provisions for sustaining tfye gospel ministry received their 
first attention. Next came the education of the children and 
youth. So deeply were they impressed with the importance of 
education, for the best good of their children, and for the 
future well-being of the community and country they were 
building up around them, that this subject never failed to 
receive earnest consideration. In the public deliberations of 
the town, as appears from our records, the discussions regard¬ 
ing schools were of more frequent occurrence, and awakened a 
deeper interest than any other topic, except the church. 

At first the privileges were very limited, by reason of the 
poverty of the people and the wide separation of families, and 
yet the opportunities of education, even then, fairly met the 
needs of the town. 

A full and continuous narrative of the beginning and progress 
of the public and private schools of Milton through its long 
life of two hundred and twenty-five years would only suffice 
to meet the demands of this important subject on the historian ; 
while we are confined to single facts and individual cases 
scattered here and there through the years of the past, and 
are compelled to rest on general statements. 

It would also be of the deepest interest to reproduce here a 
full roll of the noble men and women who have been engaged 
as teachers during the lapse of these centuries. We are able to 
present a perfect list of all our teachers for the last forty years, 
but when we go deeper into the past it is possible to glean only 
here and there a name from the multitudes who have dis¬ 
appeared. Our knowledge extends far enough, however, to 
make it evident that eminent and learned men and women have 
been among those whom we claim as Milton teachers. 


SCHOOL LOT. 


In the year 1670 the town of Milton petitioned the “fathers 
and brethren ” of Dorchester for a tract of the common land 


318 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


lying in Stoughton, for the benefit of the Milton schools. In 
1706 the land was granted, and the “School Lot” of one hun¬ 
dred and fifty acres, situated in Stoughton, was set off to Milton. 
This proved to be a tract of unproductive land, yielding but 
slight income to the schools, and after holding it for seventy- 
five years it was sold by the town in 1782. 

March 12 th 1781 Edward H. Robbins, Capt. James Boies andCapt. Josiah 
Yose were chosen a committee with full power to sell the town’s school lot, 
so called, lying in Stoughton, and to give a good deed or deeds to the pur¬ 
chasers in the name and behalf of the town. 


GLIMPSES OE EARLIEST SCHOOLS. 

Among the earliest records relating to schools we find the 
following: — 

March 4, 1669 Insign Ebenezer Tucker was chose scoole master for the 
west end of the town to teach children and youth to reed and write and he 
excepted the same. Thomas Yose was chosen scoole master for the East 
end of the town to teach children and youth to write, he excepting the 
same. 

1702 May 25 The Select Men did indent and agree with Insign Ebenezer 
Clap to keep a writing school from this time till the public Town Meeting 
next March, and if but few came at any time, he does engage to sett them 
copies, but if at any time so many as 7 or 8 or more do come together, he 
will attend them and instruct them, and the said select men do Ingage in 
behalf of the town that he shall be paid for his so doing one penny for 
every copy in quarto, he bringing his account to the Select men. 

Thomas Yose, Clark. 

1711, March 10. “It was voted that there should be a school-house 
built.” 

The presumption is that this vote was not carried into effect, 
as seven years later two school-houses were built, at such points 
as would seem to accommodate all the people. 

Milton the 17 December 1711 the Select men agreed with Mr Pamiter of 
Brantry to kepe scoole in Milton to instruct the children and youth to Read 
and Wright, and to begin the 18 of December Ensueing the date hereof 
and to continue to the 18 of March next ensuing, and for his so doing he is 
to have ten shillings per week for soporting himself unless he can be Dy- 
ated for less than four shillings per weke, then the said Pamiter is to abate 
so much of the ten shillings a week for his Dyat — and if he be wanting at 
any time, then he is to abate proporcionable out of his wages. 

Entered by me Ephraim Tucker, Town Clerk. 

SCHOOL-HOTISES. 

I can learn of only one school in Milton before the opening 



SCHOOLS. 


319 


of the eighteenth century which could be called a town school. 
Without doubt there were small schools in families and neigh¬ 
borhoods, kept in private houses, of which there was no record. 

March 17, 1718. It was voted that there shall be two school-houses 
built for the use of the town. It was voted that the school-house that is to be 
built for the east end of the town, shall be built as near the Smiths Shop as 
may be with convenieney. Except land may be had be low Samuel Swifts 
house to sit it on. It was voted that the school-house that is to be built for 
the west end of the town shall be set on the land of Manasseh Tucker, near 
Mr. Higby’s old house. It was voted that the School-houses that are to be 
built shall be 18 feet in length and 14 ft in width and six ft between joints. 
[At a subsequent meeting the same year these dimensions were changed to 
20 ft. in length and 14 ft. in breadth.] It was voted that there shall be two 
committys to take care that the school-houses be built. Sirgant Whit 
Samuel Swift and John Badcock were chosen a comity to take care that the 
school-hous in the East end of the town be built. “Lieut. Uos, Benjamin 
ffenno and Ebenezer Tucker were chose a comity to take care that the 
school-hous in the West End of the town be built. It was voted that the 
timber to build the school-houses shall be cut in the Church land, with Mr 
Thacher’s consent. It was voted that the select men shall agree with 
Mr John Kinsley or som other to keep school al the year. 

May 19. It was voted that the claw-boards and shingles that were 
provided to cover our meeting-house and not used shall be improved to 
cover our school-houses. 

Up to this time it is supposed there had been but one school- 
house in Milton, located near the head of Churchill’s lane. 
This, perhaps, was the first meeting-house utilized as a school- 
house after the building of the second meeting-house on the 
Robert Yose lot in 1671. The “ smith’s shop ” was not far from 
this point on Milton Hill, and the new school-house was to be 
near the shop, unless land could be obtained below the house 
of Samuel Swift, which stood in the rear of Mr. Dudley’s barn. 
Judge Sewall, in the account of the funeral of Rev. Peter 
Thacher, Dec. 22, 1727, says: “From thence went directly to 
the Hill, where is the smith’s shop.” 

The school-house at the west end of the town was on Brush 
Hill, a little south of the house of Mr. William M. Ferry, quite 
near Brush Hill road. 

Schools had been kept in both extremities of the town, but 
in such places as could be procured for the purpose, as appears 
from the following record : — 

June 1712. Voted that there shall be a school kept in the East & West 
ends of the town as they shall agree about the place wher, and to be kept 
in equal shares one end with the other, and the charg to be provided bv the 
town. 


Again, in 1713: 





320 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Voted that there shall be a school master for the two winter quarters 
and proportioned as may be most convenient for the instruction of the 
youth of the town. Ephraim Tucker was appointed school master the same 
day. 


PERIOD OF WARS. 

At this time there were one hundred and seventy tax-payers, 
with a population of about five hundred. These two schools 
sufficed to meet the needs of the town for fifty years. During 
this period the inhabitants were involved in the French and 
Indian wars, affecting the remotest dependencies of England 
and France. The New England colonies took up the quarrel 
against the French settlement with all the earnestness of a per¬ 
sonal conflict, knowing that France was bent on their con¬ 
quest. Milton contributed her full quota, and sent some of her 
best men on the expeditions planned for these protracted cam¬ 
paigns. But little time or money was left for home interests 
or improvements, only sufficient to meet the bare necessities of 
the town and the family. 

In 1763 a treaty was ratified at Paris that put an end to the 
intercolonial wars, and thence the course of history leads from 
bloody conflicts to peaceful pursuits. 


NEW PROGRESS. 

The population of Milton had increased to seven hundred and 
fifty, prosperity had returned, and the thoughts of the people 
were turned to their own home interests. 

Three school-houses were built about this time, as appears 
from the records : — 

May 16, 1768. Voted to accept the report of the committee for school 
affairs so far as to build two school-houses: viz. one on Mr Isaac How’s 
land opposite the burying place twenty feet by twenty-four; for this a tract 
of land was conveyed to the Town by Isaac How May 13, 1769 ; the other 
on Widow Patience Vose’s land where formerly stood a blacksmiths shop. 

Voted to build a school-house in that part of the town called Scott’s 
Woods sixteen by twenty. Voted to choose committees to build the 
school-houses. 1st for the east end of the town Mr Josiah How, Mr 
William Badcock and Mr Daniel Vose : 2d for the West End of the town, 
Ebenezer Tucker, Capt. Lemuel Bent, Lieut. Samuel Davenport: 3d for 
Scott’s Woods Stephen Miller Esq. Deacon Benjamin Wadsworth and Mr. 
Joseph Houghton. Voted that the committee to build the school house at 
the west end of the town have power to move thirty rods from the above- 
mentioned spot in case they can have a piece of land given sufficient for the 
purpose. Voted that the Committees chosen to build the school houses let 
them out to such persons as will build them the cheapest, on Monday the 
30th day of this instant May at three oclock in the afternoon at the house 



SCHOOLS. 


321 


of Mr William Badcoek inn-holder in Milton. Voted that Grammar 
schools be kept in two of the above said houses. 

School wood to be found in the following manner: each schollar at his 
or her entering one foot of wood, or one shilling and four pence L. money 
in cash between the first of November, and the last of April. Recorded by 
Amariah Blake Town Clerk. 

The school-house for the east end of the town stood on the 
west side of Churchill’s lane, opposite the cemetery, on the 
Hunt estate, a short distance north of the barn. This was 
burned down eleven years after it was built, as we learn from 
the following record: — 

March 1. 1779 Voted to build a school house in the east end of the 
Town near the Liberty Pole similar to the one burned down opposite the 
burying ground. 

March 24 1783 It was voted to rebuild the school house lately burned 
near the burying ground. 

There is no record of its being rebuilt. 

The house at the west end stood on a knoll, now covered 
with cedars, on the west side of Canton avenue, north of the 
house of the late John D. Bradlee. Subsequently this old school- 
house was moved to Brush Hill turnpike, near “ Davenport’s 
Pond,” and was occupied by Josiah Cotton and his family, the 
faithful servants of Isaac Davenport, and for many years the 
only colored family in Milton. 

The Scott’s Woods school-house stood at the end of a lane 
nearly opposite Harland street and the residence of Mr. 
Kennedy. It was moved in 1852, and is now the dwelling- 
house of Luther A. Ford. 

Thus, at this early period there were five school-houses lo¬ 
cated in the different points of the town, and affording opportu¬ 
nities for attending school, as to distance, nearly as good as 
now enjoyed. 


SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

In 1785 the town was divided into school districts or wards. 

Oct. 3, 1785 The East end of the town to form one district; the meet¬ 
ing house being the Center: north west Mr Thachers farm so called, and 
Mr Shepards ; South East from the Meeting house to Braintree line: 

_ Second District — from Mr Boises to Pauls Bridge [Mattapan & Brush 
Hill]. Third District — from Mr Stephen Clapps to Mr William Daven¬ 
port’s [From Meeting house to Canton line]. Fourth Distinct — from Mr 
Reeds to Mr Seth Cranes including the farm which Mr Gay lives on [from 
Reeds Lane to Canton line— Scotts Woods.] 

Voted that the Grammar School shall be kept six months at the east end 
of the town; three months on Brush Hill and three months in Middle 



322 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Street. [Canton Avenue.] That Scotts Woods draw an equal proportion 
of money according to their taxes, provided the same is expended in keep¬ 
ing school, and shall be free from the expense of a Grammar School, but 
may have the privilege of sending latin scholars to the West end of the 
town and no others ; that Brush Hill draw twenty seven pounds from the 
Town Treasurer to build a School house and Middle Street the same sum 
for the same purpose. 

At all the grammar schools “Masters” were employed, com¬ 
petent to give instruction in Latin and fit boys for college. 
All other schools were commonly taught by “ Dames.” It is 
presumed that new school-houses were built at the above date 
for Brush Hill and Canton avenue, or Middle street, and in the 
locations before occupied, as money was appropriated to this 
purpose, which, in those days, was done only under stress of 
necessity, and as no further move was made for building 
school-houses in the west end of the town until 1812, when the 
“ Old Brick ” was built. 

March 9 1812 Voted that the two west wards be united in one, on pe¬ 
tition of Oliver Houghton. Voted to grant the west district one hundred 
dollars towards building a school house in said ward. 

These school-houses were all provided with teachers, — 
“masters” in the winter, and “dames” in the summer; and 
before the close of the last century the school terms occupied 
nearly as much of the year as our schools do at the present 
time. 

May 9, 1791. Voted to provide a suitable school master qualified agree¬ 
able to law to keep school at the east end of the town ten months in the 
year, and also to provide a womans school six months in the year in the 
East end at such places as the select men shall think proper: and also to 
provide a school master of like description at the west end of the town for 
the term of six months, and two woman schools at the west end for the 
term of five months, and also to provide a schoolmaster of like description 
for the term of four months, and a womans school for the term of six 
months at Scott’s Woods; a new school house to be built at the east end of 
the town, and the school house at Scott’s Woods to be repaired. 

About this time, and in accordance with the above vote, the 
school-house was built on the east side of Adams street, near 
the residence of Col. O. W. Peabody, on a lot given for the 
purpose by Abel Alline in 1793. In this school several eminent 
and successful teachers were employed in the early part of this 
century. 


SCHOOL APPROPRIATIONS. 

The money appropriated for the support of schools in the 
last century was not often made a matter of record. 


SCHOOLS. 


323 


In 1795 it was divided among the district as follows: East 
Ward, <£56 Is.; Brush Hill, £20 7s.; Middle street, £23 8s. 
The East was allowed £7, the other wards £3 each, for wood. 
Money not expended by the following June was to be returned 
into the towm treasury. For several years prior to 1800 $500 
seems to have been the annual appropriation for educational 
purposes. 

SOME OF THE TEACHERS. 

The masters in the west end of the town taught three 
months in the house on Middle street, the children from Brush 
Hill attending; then the same teacher took the Brush Hill 
school for three months, and was followed to that school by the 
Middle-street pupils. Thus these sections had a master’s school 
for the entire winter. In the summer there was a woman’s 
school in each house. The teachers in this district generally 
hoarded with Capt. Thomas Yose, who lived on the south-west 
corner of Atherton street and Canton avenue. At his decease, 
March 20, 1760, his daughter, Hannah Yose, continued to 
furnish a home for them. She had a large round-about chair 
handed down from her father, called the “ Master’s Chair,” on 
which they were accustomed to carve their names; and, as 
changes were frequent, the wood-work of the chair was com¬ 
pletely covered with the names or initials of different masters. 
Some of our citizens remember of having seen on this chair the 
names of Roger Sherman, Ward Cotton, Dr. Peter Adams, and 
other prominent men who in former years were teachers in 
Milton. Roger Sherman was in Milton about 1738-40, before 
he was twenty-one years of age. While here, besides “teach¬ 
ing the young ideas how to shoot,” he used his spare time as 
“ cordwainer,” and, according to custom, went from house to 
house with his kit of tools, tarrying long enough to make and 
mend the shoes of the family. He was shoemaker for the 
family of Capt. Vose, the father of Hannah. In later years, 
after he became famous in political life, he revisited Milton 
and the scenes of his youthful days, and sought out his early 
friends. 

Dr. Jeremy Belknap taught school in Milton two years. Dr. 
Lemuel Hayward kept grammar school in Milton 1769-71. 
Deacon Jason Houghton, of Milton, everywhere known as Master 
Houghton, taught the Scott’s Woods school for twenty-eight 
years. Sarah Glover was teacher of the Middle street school 
for nineteen consecutive summers. She kept a record of the 
christenings, marriages, and deaths in Milton from about 1774 
to 1814, which should be preserved for its accuracy and fulness. 


324 


HIS TOBY OF MILTON. 


In 1801 she married George Tucker, and was the mother of 
the late Ebenezer G. Tucker, for many years one of our most 
esteemed citizens. 

In 1786 Roger Yose, afterwards Judge Yose, kept school on 
Brush Hill seven weeks for <£3 5s. Ebenezer Tucker boarded 
him for £2 2s., leaving him for his service of seven weeks’ 
teaching 38 shillings, or not quite 5-§- shillings per week. 

Many other Milton citizens, both men and women, were 
teachers of our schools in the early years of the town. 


A.D. 1800. 

Such was the condition of education in Milton, and generally 
throughout Massachusetts, when the nineteenth century opened. 

But though our schools were good for the times, and com¬ 
pared favorably with the schools of other towns in the Com¬ 
monwealth, there seems to have been a general and wide-spread 
feeling that better means of education should be provided, 
especially in the higher branches, and for the girls who had not 
received proper advantages in the public schools. This strong 
sentiment, prevailing through the Commonwealth, introduced an 

ERA OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS. 

In the brief period of twelve years thirty-three academies 
were incorporated within this Commonwealth and in the dis¬ 
trict of Maine, then under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. 
Among these was Milton Academy. 

Madame CrancK’s School. 

About the same time a Ladies’ Boarding School was opened 
in the “ Taylor House,” which stood on the site of our Town- 
Hall. It was taught by an English lady, Madame Cranch, and 
was styled by her “ Milton Abbas,” from the old English Milton 
Abbas, of Dorsetshire. The school was kept up for several 
years, and was attended by many of the young ladies of the 
day, all of whom have now passed away. Among those known 
to have been pupils there were Mrs. Jason Reed, Mrs. Samuel 
Adams, and Mrs. Preston, of Dorchester. 

Peggy How’s School. 

In the first decade of the century, Peggy How, sister of Mrs. 
Joseph Yose, lived in the gambrel-roof house near the cemetery, 








/c~«4L 


SCHOOLS. 


325 


* > ■■■■•. ' \‘i ‘.i!’ lately purchased W Mr. 

ad, where sh*e long kept a school of high order, 
ipils were Col. Josiali and Joseph Vose. Dr. John 
ey, the distinguished historian, boarded with her 
kded Milton Academy. 

Jesse Pierce's School. 

In 1810 a private school/ was Opened at Milton village by 
Col. J* -<■ Pierce, of Stoughton, tire father of the Hon. Henry 

L. and Edward L. Pierce. Mr. Pierce* had already taught the 

Milton public schools at Brush Hill and’Milton Hill for five 
years. His private school wait on the north side of Canton 
avenue, almost in front" of the house of Mrs. Thompson, now 
occupied by Rev. P. Frothingliam. The building was removed 
to River street, Dorchester, and, no\v enlarged, is the tailor’s 
shop of Mr. Wiswall. Khis priy. ite •%! moI was attended by 
many of our well-known citizens, among whom were Robert B. 
and John M. Forbes; William S., M ‘ a, and Josephine Morton; 
Moses and Seth Whitney. Juliet \ -aph, and Sarah Church¬ 
ill: also, Fletcher Webster. wh< tb.thm then lived at the 
Wells place, Dorchester, and Cn a.- t dm an, son of Rev. 
Dr. Codrifan, of Dorchester. school was continued till 

1824, when Mr. Pierce remove-’ " •= ho a : the Hon. Joseph 

M. Churchill attended school rl ■ In i 84 & l*e removed from 
Stoughton to the house in Dorehahev village, now the residence 
of his son, Henry L. Pierce. Cob Pierce was a highly sue- 
successful teacher, numbering among his pupils many who 
have occupied prominent positions in public life. 

Gideon F. . 77 /. - c% School. 

A few years later, about 1830. there was a private school on 
Milton Hill, near the house of J. Malcolm Forbes. This was 
a first-class school, patronized by our best families. The 
children of Jonathan Russell-- Jonathan, Geraldine, and Ida 
-•-were pupils. Other families on Milton Hill and in other 
sections of the town, as well as in Dorchester, were an s 

ms. Gideon F. Thayer, 1 

it, while, at the same time, carrying on his Boston school. 
Among his assistants at JuiU/ n w;ere two men who pecam^ 
quite famous,— William Russell, the elocutionist, and Francis 
J. Griind, who taught mathematics. 

A private school was kept, up at this place most of the time 
for fifty years, and was finally merged into Milton A,c f, 
when that school was reestablished in 1885. Many excellent 

















SCHOOLS. 


325 


built by Josiah How about 1743, and lately purchased by Mr. 
C. L. Copeland, where she long kept a school of high order. 
Among her pupils were Col. Josiah and Joseph Yose. Dr. John 
Gorham Palfrey, the distinguished historian, boarded with her 
when he attended Milton Academy. 

Jesse Pierce’s School. 

In 1819 a private school was opened at Milton village by 
Col. Jesse Pierce, of Stoughton, the father of the Hon. Henry 

L. and Edward L. Pierce. Mr. Pierce had already taught the 
Milton public schools at Brush Hill and Milton Hill for five 
years. His private school was on the north side of Canton 
avenue, almost in front of the house of Mrs. Thompson, now 
occupied by Rev. F. Frothingham. The building was removed 
to River street, Dorchester, and, now enlarged, is the tailor’s 
shop of Mr. Wiswall. This private school was attended by 
many of our well-known citizens, among whom were Robert B. 
and John M. Forbes; William S., Mary, and Josephine Morton; 
Moses and Seth Whitney; Juliette, Asaph, and Sarah Church¬ 
ill; also, Fletcher Webster, whose father then lived at the 
Wells place, Dorchester, and Capt. John Codman, son of Rev. 
Dr. Codman, of -Dorchester. The school was continued till 
1824, when Mr. Pierce removed to Stoughton; the Hon. Joseph 

M. Churchill attended school there. In 1849 he removed from 
Stoughton to the house in Dorchester village, now the residence 
of his son, Henry L. Pierce. Col. Pierce was a highly sue- 
successful teacher, numbering among his pupils many who 
have occupied prominent positions in public life. 

Grideon F. Thayer’s School. 

A few years later, about 1830, there was a private school on 
Milton Hill, near the house of J. Malcolm Forbes. This was 
a first-class school, patronized by our best families. The 
children of Jonathan Russell — Jonathan, Geraldine, and Ida 
— were pupils. Other families on Milton Hill and in other 
sections of the town, as well as in Dorchester, were among its 
patrons. Gideon F. Thayer, of Chauncy-Hall School, managed 
it, while, at the same time, carrying on his Boston school. 
Among his assistants at Milton were two men who became 
quite famous, — William Russell, the elocutionist, and Francis 
J. Griind, who taught mathematics. 

A private school was kept up at this place most of the time 
for fifty years, and was finally merged into Milton Academy, 
when that school was reestablished in 1885. Many excellent 


326 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


teachers have been employed. Prof. James B. Thayer taught 
the school located there in 1850—2. William S. Thayer, brother 
of Prof. Thayer, afterwards Consul-General in Egypt, was private 
tutor in the family of Robert B. Forbes for several years, about 
this time. 

Annette Miller’s School. 

Ten years later Miss Annette Miller erected a large building 
on the hill north of Canton avenue, now known as the Degan 
house, for the purpose of establishing a Female Seminary. Here 
a school was kept for a time, but was soon relinquished, and for 
the most part the building has been used as a private residence. 
A private school was also kept for a short time, by Ariel Work, 
in Jason Reed’s building, and on the premises of Gen. Joseph 
Yose. 


MILTON ACADEMY. 

[ Chartered 1798.~\ 

The first notice we find of the purpose to establish an 
Academy in Milton is the following action of the town: — 

At a legal Town Meeting held in Milton, May 2, 1797, the 4th article in 
the warrant came under consideration : — “To see if the Town approve of 
and desire the establishment of an Academy therein, for the instruction of 
children and youth in the various branches of literature.” The Town 
Voted, “That they were willing that an Academy should be erected in the 
Town.” The 5th article of the warrant was as follows: “To see what 
measures the inhabitants of the Town will adopt for the establishment of 
an Academj 7 for the purposes above expressed, and to obtain the benefit of 
an appropriation made by the General Court for the establishment of an 
Academy in Norfolk County, and to take such measures as may be thought 
expedient to further the design of two resolves passed at the last session of 
the General Court relative to that subject.” Voted, “That Edward H. 
Robbins, Esq., Dr. Amos Holbrook, Mr. Isaac Davenport and Mr. J. Smith 
Boies, be a Committee to procure subscriptions for the purpose of obtain¬ 
ing an Academy on the benefit of the appropriation made by the General 
Court.” 

The same month of May the aforesaid committee procured by 
private subscriptions the required amount, and in June of the 
same year appeared the following 

ORDER OF THE GENERAL COURT. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

In Senate, June 22, 1797. 

Ordered, that Salem Towne, Richai’d Devens, and Israel Hutchinson 
Esqrs. be a committee to repair to the Townsof Braintree, Roxbury, Milton, 
Quincy and Dorchester, in the County of Norfolk, at any time in the month 






MILTON ACADEMY. 


327 


of September or October next, to hear all that may be said by any of the 
inhabitants of either of said Towns for or against establishing an Academy 
in either of them, and to report to the next session of the General Court 
the most proper place, in their opinion, for said Academy. 

And the said committee are to visit any other town in the County for like 
purpose, being requested thereto by any inhabitant thereof who shall give 
satisfactory evidence that the fund required by the Legislature for the es¬ 
tablishment of an Academy is secured therefor. And the said committee 
shall give notice of the time of visiting said towns by advertising the same 
in the Boston Centinel and Chronicle. The expense of said committee to 
be paid by the town where the Academy is to be established. 

Sent down for concurrence. 

Samuel Phillips, 

President. 

In House of Representatives, June 22, 1797. 

Read and concurred. 

Edward H. Robbins, 

Speaker. 

This committee reported that “having visited and viewed 
eight towns in the County of Norfolk relative to fixing an 
Academy agreeable to the order of the General Court,” they 
decided in favor of the town of Milton, where the required 
fund had been secured by individual donors. 

The report was accepted, and the expense of the committee, 
amounting to $180.45, was paid by the town. 

At the same session of the General Court an act incorpo¬ 
rating Milton Academy was passed, of which the following is a 
copy: — 


ACT OF INCORPORATION. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

In the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight. 

An Act establishing an Academy in the Town of Milton, by the 
name of Milton Academy. 

Whereas, Edward H. Robbins and others have subscribed three thousand 
dollars for the purpose of erecting and supporting an Academy in the Town 
of Milton, in the County of Norfolk, and it appears that said Town is a 
suitable place for such an institution : therefore 

Section 1 . Be it enacted by the Senate ami House of Representatives in 
General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That there be 
and hereby is established in the Town of Milton, in the County of Norfolk, 
an Academy by the name of Milton Academy, for the. purposes of promot¬ 
ing piety, religion and morality, and for the education of youth in such 
languages and in such of the liberal arts and sciences, as the Trustees of 
the said Academy shall direct; and that Fisher Ames, William Aspinwall, 
Samuel Bass, Esquires, the Rev. Nathaniel Emmons, Rev. Thaddeus Mason 
Harris, Rev. Zachariah Howard, Rev. Joseph McKean, Rev. George Morey, 


328 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Rev. Eliphalet Porter, and Rev. Thomas Thacher, the Honorable Stephen 
Metcalf, John Read, Edward H. Robbins and Ebenezer Thayer, Esquires, 
be and hereby are incorporated into a body politic, by the name of the 
Trustees of Milton Academy, and that they and their successors shall be and 
continue a body politic and corporate by the same name forever. 

Section 2. Be it further enacted, That all money, lands, or other prop¬ 
erty or things, already given, or which shall be hereafter given, granted, 
devised or bequeathed, transferred or assigned to the said Trustees, for the 
purpose aforesaid, shall be confirmed to the said Trustees and their succes¬ 
sors in that trust forever. And that said Trustees may have and hold, in 
fee simple, by gift, grant, devise, bequest, or otherwise, any lands, tene¬ 
ments, hereditaments, or other estate real or personal, provided the annual 
income thereof shall not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars, and may 
sell and dispose of the same, and apply the rents and profits thereof, in 
such manner as that the end and design of said institution may be pro¬ 
moted. 

Section 3. Be it further enacted, That the said Trustees shall have 
power, from time to time, to elect such officers of the said Academy as they 
shall judge necessary, and to fix the tenures of the said offices; to remove 
any Trustee from the corporation, when in their opinion he shall be incapa¬ 
ble by reason of age, or otherwise, of discharging the duties of his office; 
to fill all vacancies in the said corporation by electing such persons for 
Trustees as they shall think suitable ; to determine the times and places of 
the meetings, the manner of notifying the Trustees ; to prescribe the power 
and duties of their several officers, to elect preceptors and teachers of the 
said Academy, and to determine their power and duties, and to fix the ten¬ 
ures of their offices ; and to make and ordain reasonable rules, orders, and 
by-laws, not repugnant to the laws of the Commonwealth, with reasonable 
penalties for the good government of the said Academy. 

Section 4. Be it further enacted, That the said Trustees may have one 
common Seal which they may at pleasure break, alter, or renew; and that 
all deeds signed and sealed with their seal, delivered and acknowledged by 
the Treasurer or Secretary of said corporation, by order of the said Trustees, 
shall be good and valid in law ; and that the said Trustees may sue and be 
sued in all actions, real, personal and mixed, and prosecute or defend the 
same to final judgment and execution, by the name of the Trustees of Mil- 
ton Academy. 

Section 5. Be it further enacted, That the number of the said Trustees 
shall not at one time be more than fifteen, nor less than nine; five of whom 
shall constitute a quorum to do business ; and that a majority of said Trus¬ 
tees shall consist of men who are not inhabitants of the said Town of 
Milton. 

Section 6. Be it further enacted, That there be, and hereby is granted to 
the said Trustees and their successors forever, for the use of said Academy, 
one-half a township of six square miles of the unappropriated lands belong¬ 
ing to this Commonwealth in the District of Maine, except the ten town¬ 
ships on Penobscot River, to be laid out and assigned by the committee for 
the sale of * eastern lands under the restrictions and reservations in similar 
grants. 

Section 7. And be it further enacted, That the Honorable Seth Bullard 
Esquire be and hereby is authorized to fix the time and place for holding 
the first meeting of said Trustees, and to notify them thereof. 

In the House of Representatives , March , 1798. This bill, having had 
three several readings, passed to be enacted. 

Edward H. Robbins, Speaker. 



MILTON ACADEMY. 


329 



March, 1798. By the Governor approved. 

Increase Sumner. 


A true copy. 


Attest, 


John Avery, Secretary. 


CALLING OF FIRST MEETING. 


Dedham, August 21, 1798. 


To the Honorable Seth Bullard, Esq. 

Sir: — 

The Subscribers, Trustees of the Milton Academy, request that 
your Honor would (in pursuance of an act of the General Court) call a 
meeting of the Trustees of the said Milton Academy in the County of Nor¬ 
folk, and Commonwealth of Mass., to be held at the house of Mr. Ebenezer 
Vose, innholder in Milton, on the 17th day of December next, at ten o’clock 
in the forenoon, for the purpose of choosing such officers as they may judge 
necessary; to adopt measures to receive the money subscribed, and to 
obtain the land granted as a fund for the said Academy; and to do and 
transact any other business relative to the said Academy. 



Norfolk, ss. To the Hon. Fisher Ames, Esq., one of the Trustees of the 
Milton Academy — Greeting: 

In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, agreeably to the 
foregoing request, you are hereby required to warn or notify all the Trustees 
of said Academy to meet at the time and place, and for the purposes 
therein mentioned. 

Given under my hand and seal at Walpole the thirtieth day of October, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight. 


Seth Bullard, 

Justice of the Peace. 


In pursuance of the foregoing Warrant to me directed, I do hereby notify 
and warn, Fisher Ames, William Aspinwall, Samuel Bass, Esqrs.; the 
Reverend Nathaniel Emmons, Thaddeus Mason Harris, Zachariah Howard, 
Joseph McKean, George Morey, Eliphalet Porter, and Thomas Thacher; 
the Hon. Stephen Metcalf, John Read, Edward H. Robbins, and Ebenezer 
Thayer, Esquires, the Trustees of the Milton Academy, to meet at the 
time and place, and for the purposes before mentioned. 


Fisher Ames. 


Dedham, Dec. 3, 1798. 


FIRST MEETING. 


The Trustees held their first meeting at the public house of 
Mr. Ebenezer Yose, in Milton, Dec. IT, 1798, according to the 


330 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


above notification, which was inserted in the “Minerva,” 
printed in Dedham. 

Ten members of the Board were present. The meeting was 
organized by the choice of Hon. John Bead as Moderator. It 
was voted to choose a President, a Treasurer, and a Secretary, 
for the year ensuing, and until a new choice be made. The 
Hon. Edward H. Bobbins was unanimously chosen President, 
Samuel Bass, Esq., was chosen Treasurer, and Bev. Joseph Mc¬ 
Kean, Secretary. Committees were appointed to take charge of 
the half township of Eastern land, and to inquire into the state 
of the subscriptions; but the great interest of the meeting 
centred in the 

LOCATION OP THE ACADEMY BUILDING. 

Prior to the first meeting it was generally understood among 
the Trustees that the Academy would be erected at the 
“ Village,” on a lot offered as a donation for this purpose by 
the Hon. Edward H. Bobbins. The whole of the Gov. Hutch¬ 
inson estate on Milton Hill was confiscated. The lot in question 
was purchased from this confiscated property by General James 
Warren, who sold the same to Mr. Bobbins. It is the lot on 
which the Morton mansion, built by Mr. Bobbins, now stands. 

Gen. Stephen Badlam offered, for this purpose, half an acre 
of land owned by John Swift, near the house of Joseph Bad- 
cock, Esq., now the residence of Mrs. William Davis. 

At the first meeting the town of Milton appeared, by its 
committee, with the statement that a “ majority of the citizens 
are desirous that the Academy be situated near the centre of the 
town and not at the village.” A proffer was made of any 
suitable portion of the “ ministerial land; ” and the Trustees 
were solicited to “defer their decision until the town have 
opportunity to meet and make definite propositions.” Where¬ 
upon it was voted to comply with this request. 

At a meeting of the Trustees held at Mr. Bevere’s tavern, 
Aug. 6, 1799, a committee of the town of Milton, chosen at 
the annual meeting, May, 1799, presented a communication to 
the Board of Trustees, signed by Seth Sumner, Esq., their chair¬ 
man, to this effect: “ That the town had voted to raise the sum 
of §3,000, and to liberate the subscribers from their engage¬ 
ments, provided the Academy be built near the centre of the 
town.” 

Gen. Joseph Vose at the same time pledged himself to the 
Trustees, that if they could not procure any more suitable 
position he would give and convey half an acre of land, situated 




MILTON ACADEMY. 


331 


“ on the great road to Taunton, and White’s lane, so called.” 
The Trustees then voted unanimously to comply with the prop¬ 
ositions of the town of Milton, and to locate the Academy on 
the lot so freely and generously offered for the purpose by Gen. 
Joseph Yose. 

This decision was reversed at a subsequent meeting, when the 
committee on location reported, as a more eligible situation, a 
tract of forty acres, with the dwelling-house thereon, adjoining 
the meeting-house lot, which could be obtained for $2,200. 

Here again appears the magnanimity of the Hon. Edward 
H. Robbins, who may be called the father of this institution. 
The record presents him as “ generously offering to make a 
donation of such a portion of the above-mentioned land as 
would be sufficient for the location of the Academy, if the 
Trustees should not think it expedient to purchase the whole 
tract.” 

In the early part of the year 1801 the whole tract of forty 
acres was purchased. In addition to this purchase the Presi¬ 
dent of the Board was instructed, at a meeting, Jan. 7,1806, “ to 
complete the purchase, and to secure a good and sufficient title 
to the land intended for the position of the Academy; to include 
so much as to make a straight line to the south-east corner of 
the estate now owmed by the Trustees.” This tract of land, about 
an acre and a half, was a portion of the “ Taylor Estate,” on 
which the Academy stands; the possession of which was neces¬ 
sary, in order to place the building in the best position, and to 
open the forty-acre tract to the “ old Taunton road.” 

Thus, in 1806, the Trustees were in full possession of forty-one 
and a half acres of land, with a dwelling-house for the Pre¬ 
ceptor, and all things were ready for the 

ERECTION OF THE BUILDING. 

A committee had already been instructed to procure plans, 
purchase lumber, and also to ascertain on what terms an archi¬ 
tect could be engaged to undertake and superintend the erection 
of the building. After much consideration Hon. E. H. Robbins, 
Mr. J. S. Boise, and Mr. Isaac Davenport were instructed to 
“make a contract with Mr. Wm. B. Crehore, of Milton, to pro¬ 
vide materials, and erect the building for an Academy not to 
exceed 53 by 35 ft.; to be two stories high, with a porch at the 
end, together with the necessary out-buildings and fences.” 
Said committee were intrusted with discretionary powers, as to 
style, material, and position of the building. 

The work was prosecuted without apparent hindrance or 


332 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


delay, and the building was completed early in September, 
1807, at a cost of $4,927.88. 

According to notification in the public papers, the Academy 
was opened for instruction on the 9th of September. Religious 
services were held in the meeting-house, consisting of singing, 
prayer by the Rev. Dr. Porter, and a discourse by the Rev. 
Thomas Thacher, which was printed and a copy “ sent to each 
of the clergymen.” 

The Rev. Warren Pierce had been employed as Preceptor at 
a salary of $800 per year, and the use of the house and farm. 

Thus eighty years ago Milton Academy started on its career 
of usefulness. 

The Academy commenced its life with a very small amount 
of funds, but with a very strong Committee of Ways and 
Means. 


THE AVAILABLE FUNDS. 

The funds with which the enterprise was started consisted 
of the half township of Eastern land donated by the Common¬ 
wealth, from which was realized the sum of $4,500; and the 
subscription of $3,000, afterwards assumed by the town of 
Milton. Besides these the sum of $100 was subscribed by six 
of the citizens of Milton, for procuring a bell for the Academy, 
which cost $158, and a second subscription of $75 was secured 
for improving the Academy grounds; making a sum total of 
- $7,675. 

There is no evidence that any other money has been used in 
the establishment or maintenance of this institution except 
what has flowed legitimately from the tuition, or from the 
income of the real estate. 

The necessary disbursements in preparation for the school 
were the cost of the land and dwelling-house, $2,200; repairs 
on the house, $99.13; and the cost of the Academy building, 
$4,927.88, amounting in all to the sum of $7,227.01, and leaving 
a margin of $447.99 for future work. 

COURSE OF STUDIES. 

Milton Academy was designed for a school of a high order. 
The original purpose was to prepare young men for college. 
This purpose has always been prominent in its instruction, 
although females were early admitted among its scholars; and 
special attention has at all times been given to the higher 
branches of the English studies, for the benefit of those not 
looking to a college education. 



MILTON ACADEMY. 


333 


The following course of studies, prepared by the Revs. Thomas 
Thacher, Dr. Porter, and Dr. Harris, was adopted at the open¬ 
ing of the school: — 

Section 1. It is expected that the regular course of studies at the 
Academy be completed in four years; but the pupils may be continued 
during the will of the parent, or till such time as he shall be qualified for 
admission into Harvard University, or such other College as the parent 
may choose. 

Sect. 2. The lower class shall learn English Grammar; Adams’s Latin 
Grammar; Mair’s Introduction to making Latin ; Erasmus; and begin the 
Gloucester Greek Grammar. Particular times shall be assigned for writing 
and arithmetic. 

Sect. 3. The second class shall learn Virgil, the Collectanea Minora, 
and the Greek Testament; they shall make Latin, and continue their 
proficiency in the construction of the English language; they shall also 
be taught to read the best English authors in prose and poetry, in 
such portions of their time as shall least interfere with their other studies. 

Sect. 4. The third class shall continue Virgil, and the Greek Testa¬ 
ment. They shall learn Tully’s Orations, and Sallust; translate English 
into Latin, and improve further in their English exercises, namely, Grammar 
and Arithmetic. These shall be varied at the pleasure of the Preceptor. 

Sect. 5. The senior class shall review those books in which they are to 
be examined at the University. If time permit, or their progress allow, 
they may learn Csesar’s Commentaries, Terence, and some part of Col¬ 
lectanea Majora; prosecute their studies in the Belles-lettres; learn from 
some of the best authors the elements of Rhetoric, Geography, Astronomy, 
(Surveying and Navigation. Also, if they choose to remain still longer. 
Logic, Locke’s Essays on the Understanding, the Principles of Natural 
Philosophy and Natural Law. 

Sect. 6. If any parent or guardian, or the pupil, if of age himself, shall 
request to be instructed merely in the branches of English education he 
may be excused from learning the Latin and Greek languages. 

Sect. 7. Provisions shall be made for instruction in the French language, 
as soon as the funds of the Academy shall permit. 

This course of studies has been modified, from time to time, 
in subsequent years, to meet the demands of the school and the 
changes of the time. 


SCHOLARS. 

The Academy opened in 1807, with twenty-three scholars, 
increasing to twenty-eight for the second term. No record of 
the annual number of scholars has been preserved, except during 
the teaching of Preceptor Edwin Clapp, commencing in 1856, 
and continuing for six years. By a careful examination of the 
returns made by instructors who received stipulated annual 
salaries, and kept on file as vouchers of the Treasurers, it 
has been possible to ascertain the annual number of pupils, from 
the opening of the school up to the year 1823. This appears as 
follows: — 


334 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Average number of scholars for the year 


1808. 

. . . 35. 

1809. 

. . . 33. 

1810. 

. . . 32.66 

1811. 

. . . 23.66 

1812. 

. . . 24 

1813. 

. . . 41.66 


1814_35.33 

1815.... 35,33 

1816 _34.66 

1817 _33.33 

,1818_27. 

1819_17. 


1820 .. 

. . 15. 

1821.. 

. . 18. 

1822.. 

. . 10.7 

1856.. 

. . 29. 


1857 

1858 

1859 

1860 
1861 


33. 

34.3 
22 . 

26.4 
26.6 


The average number of these twenty-one years, thus reported, 
is twenty-eight pupils annually. 

It detracts in no small degree from the value and interest of 
this statement, and is a matter of regret, that we fail to find a 
record of the names of those who, from year to year, passed 
through this institution. It is believed that but one catalogue 
has ever been issued. A large portion of our own citizens, many 
from other towns in our Commonwealth, and many from other 
States have enjojmd its advantages. It enrols among its alumni 
those who stand in the first ranks of business and social life. Its 
representatives grace the Pulpit, the Bench, the Army, and the 
Legislative Halls of the nation. Many of its graduates were 
conspicuous in the last great struggle of our country for right 
and freedom. 

That veteran officer, Major-General Edwin Yose Sumner, who 
fell in the conflict, received his early training at the Milton 
Academy. 

One of our young men, whose brief career was equally brill¬ 
iant, Lieut. Josiah H. Y. Field, went out from a nine years’ 
course of study, in Milton Academy, to West Point; and thence 
early into active service, joining Gen. Hunter on his exhaustive 
raid through Virginia, in the high position of “ Senior Ord¬ 
nance Officer for Western Virginia,” only to faint beneath the 
crushing burden, and to yield up his life for his country. 

Not a few of the living graduates are equally deserving of 
worthy mention for noble and self-denying service in behalf of 
their country. 

Through the kindness of the Hon. James M. Bobbins we are 
able to furnish the names of the following individuals who were 
pupils with him in Milton Academy during the early period of 
its existence: — 


Thomas Crehore, Milton. 
William Holbrook, “ 
Jeremiah S. H. Boies, “ 
Caleb Hobart, “ 

James M. Robbins, “ 


Arthur Fessenden, Roxbury. 
Thomas Wetmore, Boston. 
Francis W. Winthorp, “ 
Dudley Walker, Milton. 
Edwin V. Sumner, “ 










MILTON ACADEMY. 


335 


John Fuller, Roxbury. 

Silas Davenport, Canton. 
Robert Tucker, “ 

William H. Bass, Randolph. 
Benj. C. Cutler, Roxbury. 
Benj. C. Parker, . Boston. 
Charles Parker, “ 

James Parker, “ 

John D. W. Williams, “ 


Robert Mackey, Boston. 
William P. Lunt, Quincy. 
Jonathan Cobb, Dedham. 

Col. John Gay, “ 

Thomas T. Forbes, Milton. 
Robert B. Forbes, “ 

T. Thacher Wadsworth, “ 
Elijah Tucker, “ 


At a somewhat later period were the following: John Gorham 
Palfrey, William P. Greenwood, Jndge Frederick Yose, of Wal¬ 
pole, N.H., and Got. William Barrett Washburn. 

Under the tuition of Thomas Snow were the following schol¬ 
ars : Edwin Battles, Wyatt Dickerman, and Josiah Warren 
Talbot, of Stoughton, Mary Brewer, of Dorchester, and many 
Milton pupils. Mr. Snow is recalled by his living pupils as 
possessing the finest mould of character, and a most exact appre¬ 
ciation of his scholars, — the quality and bent of their minds, 
and the treatment and influence needed by each. 

We have received from Mr. E. J. Marsh, of Leominster, 
Mass., one of the few among the teachers still living, a list of 
pupils during his service of five years, and also interesting 
reminiscences of the school in his day, which we would gladly 
insert here did we aim at anything in this simple narrative 
except a bare statement of facts. 

Mr. Marsh is a graduate of Middlebury College. In a life 
devoted to teaching he has fitted more than one hundred young 
men for college. He commenced his work in Milton Academy 
May 26,1840, and continued until August, 1845. His career at 
Milton was a successful one. A larger number of scholars was 
connected with the school under his teaching than under any 
other teacher of whom we have a record; and his pupils, some 
of whom now live among us, testify to his thorough practical 
instruction, the benefit of which they are now reaping. 


LIST OF PUPILS, 1840-1846. 


Henry L. Pierce, Stoughton. 

Abbie P. Baker, Lincoln. 

Orilla Hager, “ 

Julia Bemis, “ 

Sally Tileston, Dorchester. 

Katharine Tileston, “ 

Mary Jane Greenwood, “ 

Lucy Hollis, Milton. 

Abbie Y. Tucker, “ 

Elizabeth Ann Wadsworth, “ 

Mary E. Yose, “ 


Mary E. Tucker, 
Catherine E. Tucker, 
Elizabeth Ann Reed, 
Susan Sumner, 

Laura Wheelock, 
Elizabeth Fairbank, 
Mary L. Glover, 

Ann E. Davenport, 
Cynthia Beals, 
Catharine Davis, 
Georgianna Davis, 







336 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Louisa J. Gannett, Milton. 

Martha Crossman, “ 

Harriet Durell, “ 

Susan Cornel], “ 

Adelaide Cornell, “ 

Fannie Campbell, “ 

Edwin I). Wadsworth, u 
Lewis R. Tucker, “ 

George Heywood, Concord. 

James Gerrish, “ 

Joseph Gerrish, “ 

George M. Baker, Lincoln. 
Webster Smith, “ 

Francis Smith, “ 

John B. Tileston, Dorchester. 
William E. Tolman, “ 

Benjamin Lyon, “ 

Lawson Brewer, “ 

Benjamin F. Crehore, “ 

Benjamin Swan, “ 

Francis Swan, “ 

George Swan, “ 

Francis Ruggles, “ 

John J. Glover, Quincy. 

Samuel G. Savil, “ 

William W. Ware, Cambridge. 


Edward Henry Adams, Milton. 
Ebenezer Campbell, “ 

Seth Durell, “ 

Henry Thayer, “ 

George Thayer, “ 

J. Walter Reed, “ 

John F. Ware, Dorchester. 
Jesse Tucker, Milton. 

Dean Swift, “ 

William Wadsworth, “ 
William Tufts, “ 

Eben Tufts, ‘ 

Franklin Davis, “ 

Rufus W. Sumner, “ 

Thomas Hollis, “ 

Charles W. P. Nichols, “ 
George K. Gannett, “ 

Alfred R. Glover, “ 

John Reed, “ 

Edward Collins, “ 

Paul Revere, Boston. 

Charles F. Swan, Dorchester. 
George Swan, “ 

James G. Yose, Milton. 

Everett C. Banfield, “ 


This catalogue contains the names of individuals who would 
confer honor upon any institution: Col. Paul Revere, the 
brave and true, who gave up his life for his country; Everett 
C. Banfield, the distinguished attorney; Hon. Henry L. Pierce, 
ex-Mayor of Boston; Rev. James G. Yose, D.D., Professor at 
Amherst College, and now pastor of a leading church in Provi¬ 
dence, R.I.; John B. Tileston, the well-known publisher; 
William E. Tolman and Francis Swan, honored and successful 
teachers; George M. Baker, model farmer; Edward Collins, of 
the United States Army. 

Could we thus bring before the eye the names of all the 
alumni of this institution, through its whole work of seventy 
years, the wide-spread power and influence of Milton Academy 
might, in some measure, be realized. 


TEACHERS AHD OFFICERS. 

It is ascertained from the testimony of those who were 
scholars in the Academy during the first decade of its existence, 
that Preceptor Pierce was a thorough classical teacher, and 
was very successful in fitting students for Harvard University. 
Many of his pupils were from the first families of Boston and 
the neighboring towns, and a large proportion of them passed 








MILTON ACADEMY. 


337 


through college and became professional men. Milton Acad¬ 
emy soon rose to a high reputation as a thorough and successful 
school; and this high tone of character has been sustained 
through its entire history, with occasional periods of embarrass¬ 
ment and decline. 

Hundreds of young men have passed out from its instruction 
into the various colleges of our land. Among its corps of four¬ 
teen teachers, whose names are herewith perpetuated, besides 
numerous assistants, have been acute minds and warm hearts, 
earnest in the work of educating the youth of this community. 

As the first years of the Academy were full of promise, so the 
last years seem to have been among its brightest. 

In 1854 the Trustees guaranteed a salary of $750 per annum, 
and a large percentage of all income from tuition above this 
sum. Mr. Edwin Clapp was engaged as teacher, and the tuition 
was raised to $10 a term. During the ten years of his success¬ 
ful service the income was larger than ever before, amounting 
for one year to $1,363. 

Mr. Sereno D. Hunt, who followed Mr. Clapp, was equally 
successful during his short term of service. 

In this high tide of success both teacher and Academy build¬ 
ing were transferred to the town of Milton, and, for a time, 
Milton High School assumed the position of Milton Academy. 

By a provision in the “ Act of Incorporation,” a majority of 
the Trustees must consist of men who are not citizens of Milton. 
Most of the Trustees have, therefore, been inhabitants of neigh¬ 
boring towns. That the interests of the institution have fallen 
into faithful hands may be seen by the long line of illustrious 
names embraced in the catalogue of Trustees, which is presented 
without a single omission. 

Dr. John P. Spooner, of Dorchester, held the office of Treas¬ 
urer for thirty-four years, faithfully managing the finances of 
the Academy during a period of its greatest depression, and by 
his persevering efforts greatly ministering to the life and pros¬ 
perity of the institution. 

The Hon. Edward H. Robbins was unanimously chosen the 
first President of the Board of Trustees in 1798. This office he 
retained for thirty-two years, until his death; always approving 
himself the faithful friend, wise counsellor, and assiduous helper 
of Milton Academy. 

In 1830 Dr. Amos Holbrook was appointed to the office of 
President and continued in this position until his decease in 
1842. 

In 1842 the Hon. James M. Robbins succeeded Dr. Holbrook 
as President of the Board of Trustees, which office he held 


338 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


until 1884, when he resigned on account of feeble health. Col. 
William H. Forbes was chosen as his successor. 

PROSPERITY AND ADVERSITY. 

That the Academy has been reasonably successful must he 
apparent to all who have observed its history. It has outlived 
many of its contemporaries. If it has not kept pace with the 
more celebrated institutions of its kind, such as Andover, 
Leicester, Exeter, and others, it is because no one has appeared 
as its benefactor, which has been otherwise with those favored 
academies. Milton Academy has lived by its own untiring 
efforts. Since its organization, or the very first years of its life, 
no person has. contributed a dollar to its encouragement or sup¬ 
port. Had this institution been placed on a financial basis 
equal with that of other kindred institutions within, the Com¬ 
monwealth, its career might have been equally brilliant. 

On several occasions it has been suspended for short periods, 
only to rise again into new life. 

In 1867 the town of Milton established a High School, free 
to all.its youth, and with the offer of a larger salary than the 
Academy could give, secured the services of its Principal as 
their teacher. At this point the Academy was suspended, and 
the Academy building was leased to the town of Milton for a 
term of years, expiring July 1, 1880. During the period of 
suspension the Board of Trustees was kept full and in working 
order, ready for any new work. 

REESTABLISHMENT OF THE ACADEMY. 

The question of reopening the Academy at the expiration of 
the lease to the town of Milton had many times engaged the 
attention of the Trustees, It was fully debated at the annual 
meeting, July 2, 1879, and resulted in the appointment of a 
committee to solicit funds for the endowment of the school. 

This committee decided to lay the matter before the citizens 
of the town and vicinity, and for this purpose a mass meeting 
was called at the Town-Hall, Dec. 13, 1879. The meeting was 
well attended by the Trustees and by the friends of education in 
the town and vicinity. Addresses were . made by the President 
of the Board of Trustees, by Rev. Dr. Morison, Gamaliel Brad¬ 
ford, Esq., Hon. Edward L. Pierce, Prof. James B. Thayer, 
President Eliot of Harvard College, and others. The spirit and 
tone of the meeting favored the reopening of the Academy, with 
an endowment sufficient to establish and maintain a school of the 
highest order for girls and boys. Meantime, the old Academy 

















' 











MILTON ACADEMY. 


339 


building being deemed insufficient in point of room and 
facilities for study to meet the wants of tbe contemplated school, 
and its location not tbe most convenient for the pupils who 
would be likely to attend such a school, at the annual meeting 
of the Trustees, July 3, 1883, it was voted to sell the Academy 
building, with the two and a half acres of land under and 
around the same, to the town of Milton for the sum of $3,000. 

Conditional subscriptions to an endowment fund for the 
school were obtained to the amount of $50,000 and upwards, 
and at a special meeting, May 22, 1884, the following plan of 
action was presented by the subscribers to said fund for the 
consideration of the Trustees : — 


PLAN OF ACTION. 

1st. That this fund be placed in the hands of three Trustees, who shall 
buy land, and build suitable school buildings thereon. 

2d. Keep the remainder of the endowment fund, after paying for such 
land and buildings, safely invested, and collect the income thereof. 

3d. Give the free use of said land and buildings, and pay over the net 
income of the remainder of said endowment fund to the Trustees of Milton 
Academy for four years from Aug. 1, 1884, and for such further time as 
may at the end of said four years be agreed upon ; and the Trustees of said 
Academy shall agree to, and shall for said time, maintain a good and suit¬ 
able school in said buildings and keep said buildings and land in good re¬ 
pair and condition, and shall for the purposes of such school use both the 
income of the endowment fund and also all the income from the property 
now or hereafter belonging to said Academy. 

4th. If, at the end of said, four years, or further time agreed upon, a 
majority of the Trustees of the endowment fund shall decide that it is best 
to do so, they shall transfer and convey to the Milton Academy all the 
property then held by them as Trustees, with and under such conditions and 
restrictions as shall be decided upon. 

5th. But if at the end of such time they decide that it is not best to so 
transfer and convey to Milton Academy such property, they shall dispose 
of the same in such manner as a majority in interest of the subscribers to 
said endowment fund, or their legal representatives, shall decide. The 
Trustees of said Academy shall, during such four years and further time, 
have full charge and management of said school, and of said land and 
buildings, and of the expenditures of said net income of the endowment fund. 

Tbe above informal proposition, looking to the reviving of 
the Academy, was carefully considered, and it was voted there¬ 
upon to accept such proposal when formally made. 

At the annual meeting of the Trustees, July 2, 1884, on 
motion of Mr. Roger Wolcott: — 


Voted, that as the Trustees of the endowment fund do hereby, by 
their committee, make the informal proposal presented at the special 
meeting May 22,1884, a formal one, the said proposition is hereby accepted. 


340 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


A suitable tract of land was secured on Randolph avenue 
and Centre street, and a building was erected for the school, 
which, in all its appointments, may be styled a model school- 
house. 

In September, 1885, Milton Academy started in the new 
quarters, with a corps of four teachers and upwards of forty 
pupils. 


PURPOSES OF THE ACADEMY. 

The Academy gives careful attention to the instruction of the youngest 
pupils, and has therefore arranged a Primary Department, which is 
placed in charge of an experienced teacher. The Intermediate or Gram¬ 
mar grade occupies four years, and brings pupils forward to the beginning 
of their College Preparatory or High School course, when they may 
begin an ancient or a second modern language. The entire course of the 
Academy is thirteen years in length. Pupils may enter the primary class 
at the age of five, and, if regular in attendance, and always gaining pro¬ 
motion from class to class, will be ready to receive the diploma of the 
Academy and to enter college at the age of eighteen. 


COURSES OF STUDY. 

The courses of study for the Primary Department include: (1) Oral 
Lessons, intended to stimulate observation of simple objects, and to en¬ 
courage the use of language in describing them; (2) Language Lessons, 
including Reading, Writing, Spelling, and Declamation; (3) The simplest 
oral exercises in French; (4) Arithmetic up to short division ; (5) Physical 
Exercises. 

In the Intermediate or Grammar Department the course is, through¬ 
out the four years : (1) Elementary Science, or lessons on plants, animals, 
metals, minerals, natural phenomena, and the heavenly bodies, and on the 
rudiments of physiology and hygiene; (2) English Language, including 
Reading, Writing, Composition, and Declamation, and, in the last year, the 
elements of Grammar; (3) French, with conversation, reading from easy 
books, and the beginnings of Grammar; (4) Arithmetic up to percentage, 
simple interest and discount, and including the Metric system; (5) Geog¬ 
raphy; (6) in the last year. History \he> United States. 

On completing the work of the Intermediate Department, pupils, if 
wishing to fit for college, must begin Latin. Such pupils will take the 
College Course, which will conform to the requirements of Harvard Col¬ 
lege. This course contemplates the study of (1) Latin, during its six 
years; (2) Greek, during the last three years; (3) French, continued 
during the entire period, so as to reach fully the required proficiency; (4) 
English, including the reading by each class of the books required that 
year, Composition, Spelling, Declamation, and Grammar; (5) Mathemat¬ 
ics, including Arithmetic, Algebra, and Geometry; (6) Ancient and 
Modern Geography and History; (7) Botany and Physics. 

Pupils not desiring to prepare for college will take the High School 
Course. This includes (1) English Language and Literature, with Gram¬ 
mar, Declamation, and Composition; (2) History of the United States and 
England, Ancient and Mediaeval History, History of Special Periods, Civil 
Government of the United States, and of Massachusetts ; (3) French, con¬ 
tinued, extending to the study of the grammar and literature, with frequent 


MILTON ACADEMY. 


341 


conversation and composition in French; (4) Latin or German (optional) ; 
(5) Science, including Physiology and Hygiene, Botany, Physics, Chemis¬ 
try, Astronomy, Geology; (6) Mathematics, including Arithmetic, Single- 
entry Book-keeping, Algebra, Geometry; (7) Political and Physical 
Geography; (8) Elementary Political Economy. 


TUITION. 


In Primary Department. 

“ Intermediate “. 

“ Advanced “. 

Payable semi-annually, in November and March. 


$60.00 per annum. 
90.00 “ 

120.00 “ 


TRUSTEES OF MILTON ACADEMY. 


Names. 

Fisher Ames, Esq., 

William Aspinwall, Esq., 
Samuel Bass, Esq., 

Rev. Nathaniel Emmons, D.D., 
Rev. Thaddeus M. Harris, D.D., 
Rev. Zachariah Howard, 

Rev. Joseph McKean, 

Rev. George Morey, 

Rev. Eliphalet Porter, D.D., 
Rev. Thomas Thacher, 

Hon. Stephen Metcalf, 

Hon. John Reed, 

Hon. Edward H. Robbins, 

Hon. Ebenezer Thayer, 

Moses Black, Esq,, 

Isaac Davenport, Esq., 

Jeremiah Smith Boies, Esq., 

Dr. Amos Holbrook, 

Rev. Edward Richmond, D.D., 
Rev. John Pierce, D.D., 

Edward Dowse, Esq., 

Rev. Peter Whitney, 

Hon. Josiah Quincy, 

Henderson Inches, Esq., 

Rev. Stephen Palmer, 

Thomas Williams, Esq., 

Rev. Thomas Gray, D.D., 

Rev. William Richie, 

Samuel H. Babcock, Esq., 
Samuel P. Loud, Esq., 

Joseph Greenleaf, Esq., 

Francis Amory, Esq., 

Joseph Rowe, Esq., 

Joseph Morton, Esq., 

Hon. John Bailey, 

Abel Cushing, Esq., 

Hon. John Ruggles, 


Residence. 

Date 

of Election. 

Dedham, 

Brookline, 

1789. 

Randolph, 

Franklin, 

Dorchester, 

1 ! 

Canton, 

Milton, 

Walpole, 

“ 

Roxbury, 

Dedham, 

Walpole, 


Bridgewater, 

Milton, 

Braintree, 

Quincy, 

1800. 

Milton, 

1806. 

Stoughton, 

1808. 

Brookline, 

Dedham, 

1809. 

Quincy, 

1812. 

Milton, 

Needham, 

1814. 

Roxbury, 

1822. 

Needham, 

Milton, 

1823. 

Dorchester, 

1824. 

Quincy, 

Milton, 

1830. 

Dorchester, 

1831. 

Milton, 




842 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Date 


Names. 

Residence. 

of Election. 

Rev. Benjamin Huntoon, 

Canton, 

1834. 

Dr. John P. Spooner, 

Rev. Joseph Angier, 

Dorchester, 

1837. 

Milton, 

1838. 

Rev. F. Cunningham, 

“ 

1839. 

Rev. Samuel W. Cozzens, D.D., 

“ 

Rev. Alvan Lamson, D.D., 

Dedham, 

“ 

Hon. James M. Robbins, 

Milton, 

1840. 

Rev. William P. Lunt, D.D., 

Quincy, 

1842. 

Hon. Thomas French, 

Canton, 

“ 

Rev. Samuel K. Lothrop, D.D., 

Boston, 

1845. 

Dr. Edward Jarvis, 

Dorchester, 

“ 

Samuel Adams, Esq., 

Milton, 

“ 

Rev. John H. Morison, D.D., 

“ 

1847. 

Rev. David Dyer, 

Dorchester, 

“ 

Asaph Churchill, Esq., 


1850. 

Leonard Everett, Esq., 

Canton, 

1851. 

Rev. Richard Pike, 

Dorchester, * 

“ 

James H. Means, D.D., 

“ 

1856. 

Hon. R. B. Forbes, 

Milton, 

1857. 

Hon. William S. Morton, 

Quincy, 

“ 

Rev. T. T. Munger, 

Dorchester, 

“ 

Charles M. S. Churchill, Esq., 

Milton, 

1858. 

Rev. Albert K. Teele, D.D., 

“ 

1863. 

Rev. Thomas J. Mumford, 

Dorchester, 

1867. 

Jonathan H. Cobb, Esq., 

Dedham, 


Rev. John D. Wells, 

Quincy, 

•* 

Dr. James S. Green, 

Dorchester, 


Hon. Henry L. Pierce, 

“ 

1877. 

Dr. James Morison, 

Quincy, 

1878. 

Col. William H. Forbes, 

Milton, 

“ 

Prof. James B. Thayer, 

Cambridge, 

“ 

Gamaliel Bradford, Esq., 

AmorL. Hollingsworth, Esq., 

Grantville, 


Milton, 

1879. 

Roger Wolcott, Esq., 

Boston, 

“ 

Miss Harriet Ware, 

Milton, 

“ 

J. Malcolm Forbes, Esq., 

“ 

1884. 

Samuel Gannett, Esq., 

“ 

“ 

W. J. Ladd, Esq., 

“ 

“ 

Charles P. Ware, Esq., 

Brookline, 

1886. 

PRESIDENTS OF 

MILTON ACADEMY. 

Date 

Names. 

Residence. 

of Election. 

Hon. Edward H. Robbins, 

Milton, 

1798. 

Dr. Amos Holbrook, 

“ 

1830. 

Hon. James M. Robbins, 

“ 

1842. 

Col. William H. Forbes, 

“ 

1884. 

TREASURERS. 

Date 

Names. 

Residence. 

of Election. 

Samuel Bass, Esq., 

Randolph, 

1798. 

Jeremiah S. Boies, Esq., 

Milton, 

1806. 


MILTON ACADEMY. 


343 


Date 


Names. 

Residence. 

of Election. 

Henderson Inches, Esq., 

Milton, 

1818. 

Isaac Davenport, Esq., 

“ 

1821. 

Samuel H. Babcock, Esq., 

“ 

1828. 

James M. Robbins, 

“ 

1840. 

Dr. John P. Spooner, 

Dorchester, 

1842. 

Rev. Albert K. Teele, 

Milton, 

1876. 

SECRETARIES. 




Date 

Names. 

Residence. 

of Election. 

Rev. Joseph McKean, D.D., 

Milton, 

1798. 

Dr. Amos Holbrook, 

“ 

1809. 

Rev. Edward Richmond, D.D., 

Stoughton, 

1816. 

Abel Cushing Esq., 

Dorchester, 

1833. 

Rev. Joseph Angier, 

Milton, 

1839. 

Rev. Samuel W. Cozzens, D.D., 

“ 

1844. 

Rev. John H. Morison, D.D., 

“ 

1847. 

Rev. David Dyer, 

Dorchester, 

1850. 

Rev. Richard Pike, 

“ 

1852. 

Charles M. S. Churchill, Esq. 

Milton, 

1863. 

Rev. Albert K. Teele, D.D. 

“ 

1876. 


TEACHERS OF THE OLD MILTON ACADEMY. ■ 


Names. 

Date 

of Election. 

Date 

of Resignation. Salaries. 

Rev. Warren Pierce, 

1807 

1817 < 

\ $800 for 5 years. Tuition 
i and farm for 5 years. 

William Reed, 

1817 

1821 

$600 per annum. 

$500 “ 

Joseph R. Hill, 

1821 

1822 

Moses Webster, 

1822 

1827 

Tuition, house, and farm. 

Calvin Howe, 

1827 

1828 

“ “ “ 

[School suspended for one 

year.] 



Thomas Snow, 

1829 

1835 

Tuition, house, and farm. 

[School suspended for part of the year— 

■ Mr. Colburn taught one term.] 

William H. Ropes, 

1837 

1838 

Tuition, house, and farm. 

Charles Edwards, 

1838 

1839 

“ “ “ “ 

[Suspended from August, 1839, to May 26, 1840.] 


E. J. Marsh, 

1840 

1845 

Tuition, house, and farm. 

Ariel P. Chute, 

1845 

1846 

“ “ “ “ 

Ezra Ripley, 

1846 

1848 

“ 

[Suspended from February 17, 1848, to August 27, 1849.] 

Christopher A. Green, 

1849 

1851 

Tuition and house. 

[Suspended from August, 1852, to April, 1854.] 


Edwin Clapp, 

1855 

1865 

Salary of $750 guaranteed. 

Sereno D. Hunt, 

1865 

1866 

Tuition and house. 


344 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


OFFICERS, 1886 AND 1887. 
President. 

William H. Forbes. 


Secretary and Treasurer. 

Albert K. Teele. 

Executive Committee. 

W. H. Forbes, Miss Harriet Ware, 

W. J. Ladd, J. B. Thayer. 

Trustees. 

Rev. J. H. Morison, D.D., Boston. 

Milton. 
Dorchester. 

Milton. 
Cambridge. 

Boston. 
Milton. 


Brookline. 


Samuel Thurber, Principal, 1886. 

H. O. Apthorp, A.M., “ 1887. 

Miss Lucia Bartlett, First Assistant. 

Miss Margaret J. Thacher, Second Assistant. 
Madame McLaren, Teacher of French. 


Rev. A. K. Teele, D.D., 
Dr. James S. Green, 

Hon. Henry L. Pierce, 
Col. William H. Forbes, 
Prof. James B. Thayer, 
Gamaliel Bradford, Esq., 
Roger Wolcott, Esq., 
Miss Harriet Ware, 

J. Malcolm Forbes, Esq., 
Samuel Gannett, Esq., 

W. J. Ladd, Esq., 

Chas. P. Ware, Esq., 

Teachers. 


PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN 1800. 

If the prevalence of private schools in the early part of the 
century in any degree turned the attention of the people from 
the public schools, or diminished the number of those who 
otherwise would have attended them, it nevertheless created a 
sentiment and inspired a zeal in the great subject of education 
which counterbalanced any such apparent loss. Our public 
schools, through the century, have kept pace with the growing 
numbers, intelligence, and thought of the times. 

In the year 1800 the town’s appropriation for its schools was 
$666.66; since that time it has advanced with a constantly 
accelerated increase, until in 1886 it has reached the sum of 
$19,347.42. The school records of the last of the seventeenth 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 


345 


and the first of the eighteenth centuries are incomplete; but, 
so far as can he learned, there is but one instance in the whole 
history of the town of a retrograde movement in school appro¬ 
priations. The appropriation of 1847, which rose from $2,000 
in 1846 to $2,300, fell back in 1848 to $2,000, but rose again 
the next year. 

The schools were kept in the same sections of the town, and 
under the same conditions, except the combination of the two 
wards in the west end of the town, — Brush Hill and Middle 
street into one school, located on Blue Hill avenue, where the 
West school-house now stands. This took place in 1812, when 
the brick school-house was built called the “ Old Brick,” which 
was removed when the present house was built, in 1870. This 
school has had the benefit of many excellent and distinguished 
teachers. Col. Jesse Pierce was the teacher here in 1814, 1815, 
and 1818, boarding at Major Atherton’s. In 1816 and 1817 
he taught the school on Milton Hill, boarding with Daniel 
Briggs. Col. Pierce had also three brothers who taught in Mil- 
ton. John Pierce taught the West School, taking it when his 
brother left in 1815. Joel Pierce taught the Scott’s Woods 
School in 1818 and 1819, commencing October, 1818. He also 
taught the West School, 1819-20, after Jesse Pierce left. He 
afterwards taught a successful private school in Dorchester, 
and, as late as 1838, the school on River street. He died in 
Stoughton, 1887, aged 92 years. Otis Pierce was teacher at 
Scott’s Woods in 1822. Contemporary with the Pierces, Jeremy 
Drake, of Boston, taught in Milton with much success. 

Josiah Fairbank taught the Scott’s Woods School, and after¬ 
wards the school on Milton Hill. He was born in Northborough, 
Sept. 26, 1794, and commenced teaching in Westborough when 
seventeen years of age. He was connected with our public 
schools for nine years. From Milton he went to Charlestown, 
as teacher of the Girls’ High School, where he remained seven 
years. He then became head-master of the Adams School, 
Boston, retaining the position for, fourteen years. 

While teaching in Milton he married Sarah E. Gulliver, 
daughter of Lemuel Gulliver, of Milton; and at the decease of 
his father-in-law he removed to the Milton homestead, on Can¬ 
ton avenue, where he remained through life. 

Nathan Metcalf, of Franklin, always called “ Master Met¬ 
calf,” was teacher of the Milton Hill School in 1825, and con¬ 
tinued in the position for eight years. 

Among the many female teachers of this Milton Hill School 
was Ann Bent, a lady of remarkable ability, and of a most 
estimable character. 


846 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


The following were teachers in the South School: Mr. 
Chipman, about 1827; then Oren Smith, Anthony S. Brackett, 
Franklin Crombie, who had before taught in the West School, 
Jeremiah Plympton, and William Henry Swan. 

NEW DISTRICTS. 

At the March meeting in 1835 a committee of ten was 
chosen, — 

To consider whether it would not promote education to have the town 
divided into five or more convenient districts, and define their limits, and to 
see if the town would set off a school district in the centre of the town. 

The committee reported at the April meeting of the same 
year, recommending the division of the town into five districts, 
substantially as they are at present, except a change made in 
the westerly part of the centre district, and the changes neces¬ 
sary in the establishment of new schools at Pleasant street 
and Mattapan. 

At this time there were four hundred and twenty children 
of suitable age to attend school, and the town was divided so 
as to give about the same number to each district. In 1885 
the sum of $150 was voted to aid the East District in building 
a new school-house. This house stood on the north side of 
Squantum street, between the stone cottage and the house of 
Mr. George W. Bass. 

In 1837 a like sum was appropriated for building a school- 
house in the Centre District. As early as 1734, — 

Voted, that there should be a fixed school in the centre of the town be¬ 
tween the stone bridge and pound. 

The pound was then near White street. There may have 
been a school in this vicinity at that time and after, but there 
is no other reference to such a school. Doubtless the school- 
house built on the lot of Isaac How, opposite the cemetery, in 
1768, was designed to meet this need. After the division of 
the town into districts, in 1835, creating a separate district 
in the centre, a school which was established in 1832, occupying 
the building afterwards Jason Feed’s store, and then the vestry 
of the Unitarian Church, was made perpetual. A permanent 
school-house was erected for this school in 1837 on the lot now 
in use. The school appropriation for that year was $1,600, 
which, with the town’s share of the State school-fund, $49.65, 
gave each district for that year $829.93. 


PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 


347 


Not unfrequently the town appropriation, which was insuf- 
cient for extending the schools through the whole winter, was 
increased by voluntary subscription, and a longer school-term 
was secured. Sometimes, after the school-money was ex¬ 
hausted, the teachers continued their schools for a few weeks 
for the benefit of those wishing to study longer, for which 
service they were paid by the parents of such pupils. 

PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEE ABOLISHED. 

In the year 1846 the old Prudential Committee, which had 
the charge of school-buildings and the duty of procuring teach¬ 
ers, was abolished. 

It was voted that the duties heretofore belonging to the prudential com¬ 
mittees, selecting and contracting with the teachers of the several schools., 
be assigned to the School Committee, as the means most likely to obtain 
qualified teachers seasonably and effectually; and that the schools and 
school-houses be in the future at the common charge and expense of the 
town. 

On the 23d of November, 1846, the school-house in the North 
District, on Milton Hill, was consumed by fire. The building 
was set on fire by one of the boys of the school, who was 
arrested, and confessed the deed, assigning as a reason that he 
wanted a longer vacation. 

The town appropriated $1,600 for building a new house, 
which, by an arrangement with Mr. John M. Forbes, referred 
to in the chapter on “ Highways and By-ways,” was located on 
School street. Meantime the school was kept in the hall over 
the store of Mr. Johnson, at the Lower Mills. 

In 1852 two new school-houses were built. It was found 
that the East School had outgrown its building, and a new 
house was built, on the present site, at an expense of $3,907.72. 
Twenty-five years later extensive additions and changes were 
made on this house, which, with cost of land and grading, 
amounted to $5,827.92. 

A new school-house, which is now in use, was also built in 
the South District, at a cost of $2,078.20. 

ESTABLISHMENT OE PLEA SANT—STREET SCHOOL. 

In the same year one article in the warrant for the March 
meeting was, — 

To see if the town will erect or build a primary school-house on the 
proposed Pleasant street, formerly New State. 



348 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


This was referred to a committee, who reported at an ad¬ 
journed meeting in April in favor of buying a suitable lot and 
building a house, and that a committee be chosen to buy the 
land and build the house. This committee made the following 
report at the March meeting, 1853: — 

That they had built a school-house one story in height, capable of ac¬ 
commodating sixty scholars, and provided with everything necessary for 
the convenience and comfort, of teacher and pupils, the whole expense 
being $1,622. 

In this house a school was opened January 10, 1853, with 
thirty-four pupils, and Miss L. D. Bacon as teacher. After 
the lapse of twenty-five years, the growth of the district requir¬ 
ing better accommodations, this house and lot were sold, and 
the present commodious house standing on Gun-Hill and 
Pleasant streets was built in 1879, at a cost of about $5,000. 

ESTABLISHMENT OF FAIRMOUNT SCHOOL. 

In 1857 the increase of population in the north-west section 
of the town, near the river, arising from the new settlement at 
Fairmount, made it necessary to establish a school there, which 
was kept in a building leased by the town, and was continued 
until the incorporation of the town of Hyde Park, when about 
four hundred acres of the territory of Milton, with all the new 
inhabitants, passed under the jurisdiction of that town. 

In 1859 the present school-house was erected in the Centre 
district, costing in all $3,900. The old school-house was con¬ 
verted into the dwelling-house now standing on the east side of 
Clapp street, near Central avenue. 

The “ Old Brick,” at the West district, within whose walls 
the children and the children’s children had gathered for fifty- 
eight years, finally gave place to the present structure, erected 
in 1870, at the cost of $7,000. 

In 1877 a new school-house was built at Mattapan to meet the 
increase of population in that section of the town. The whole 
cost, with furnishing and grading, was $7,965.34. 

MILTON HIGH SCHOOL. 

The High School was established in 1866. At that time 
Milton Academy was suspended and the Academy building was 
leased to the town for the purposes of the High School. Mr. 
Sereno D. Hunt, the Principal of the Academy, was selected by 
the School Committee as the Principal of the High School. Thus, 
for the time, the Academy ceased its work, and the High School 


PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 


349 


began its career of usefulness. This arrangement continued, 
with various changes of teachers, until 1884, when the Academy 
building, with two and a half acres of land, was sold by the 
Trustees of Milton Academy to the town of Milton. 

At the annual town meeting of 1885 an appropriation of 
$18,000 was voted for a new High School building. In the course 
of the same year the old Academy building was taken down 



and a spacious and commodious structure for the High School 
was erected on nearly the same site. During the time of build¬ 
ing, the sessions of the High School were held in the small room 
of the Town-Hall. At the same time Milton Academy started 
into new life under the most favorable auspices, occupying a 
new house, planned specially for the school, and provided with 
every convenience to facilitate study and to promote the health 
and comfort of teachers and pupils. 

NEW HIGH-SCHOOL BUILDING. 

The new High school-house is of brick, eighty-four feet long 
and fifty feet wide in front. It contains on the first floor a 





350 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


school-room, thirty-six by thirty-nine feet, with two alcoves, one 
for the library and the other for the teacher’s desk; a recitation- 
room, twenty-two by eighteen feet; two dressing-rooms, eleven 
by eighteen feet; and a teachers’-room, nine by thirteen feet. The 
dressing-rooms and the teachers’-room have set-bowls and water. 
On the second floor, in front, there are two laboratories. The 
chemical laboratory is twenty-two by thirty-one feet, and has an 
experimental table for a class of sixteen pupils. The table is 
supplied with water and gas, and has two drawers and a closet 
for each pupil. In one corner of the room there is an evapor¬ 
ating hood with separate ventilation. The physical laboratory 
is twenty-eight feet by sixteen, and has opening into it by glass 
doors a large closet for apparatus. This is also furnished with 
a sink and water. Over the school-room there is a large 
unfinished room used by the girls for exercise. All the rooms 
are ventilated into a large brick shaft, through which passes the 
iron smoke-pipe from the furnaces. 


COURSE OF STUDY. 


First Term. 
Algebra (4). 
Physiology (3). 
English. (3). 
Latin (4). 


Geometry (3). 
English (2). 

English History (3). 
Latin or French (3). 
Physics (3). 


Chemistry (4). 
English (3). 

History (3). 
Arithmetic (1). 

Latin or French (3). 


First year. 

Second Term. 

Algebra (4). 
Book-keeping (3). 
English (3). 

Latin (4). 

Second year. 

Geometry (3). 
English (2). 

English History (3). 
Latin or French (3). 
Physics (3). 

Third year. 

Chemistry (4). 
English (2). 

History (2). 
Arithmetic (2). 
Latin or French (3). 


Third Term. 

Algebra (4). 
Botany (3). 
English (3). 
Latin (4). 


Geometry (3). 
English (2). 

English History (3). 
Latin or French (3). 
Physics (3). 


Astronomy (2). 
English (2). 

Civil Government (4). 
Arithmetic (2). 

Latin or French (3). 


A pupil who does not wish to take any foreign language can elect from 
the others two or more studies. Pupils who desire it can take additional 
study required for admission to college. 


MILTON TEACHERS. 


351 


MILTON TEACHERS. 

We here present a complete list of all teachers who have 
taught in five of the public schools of Milton from their estab¬ 
lishment to the present time; also a complete list of all teachers 
connected with the four older schools for the last forty years, 
including the years 1846 and 1887. For this valuable work, the 
town is indebted to the labor and care of our esteemed fellow- 
citizen, Capt. Edwin D. Wadsworth. 


TEACHERS IN HIGH SCHOOL 
Principals. 

S. D. Hunt, 1866 to 77. 

W. E. Bunten, 1877, 78. 

Hiram Tuell, 1878 to 87. 

Assistants. 

Miss E. Osgood, 1868 to 72. 

“ C. F. Babcock, 1871, 72. 

“ L. B. Kilham, 1873. 

“ F. Y. Emerson, 1874, 75. 

“ S. H. Weidemeyer, 1875. 

“ S. M. Yose, 1876. 

“ M. E. Wright, 1876, 77. 

“ H. C. Teele, 1878. 

“ H. F. Hallowell, 1878 to 87. 


TEACHERS IN N< 
Mixed School. 

Miss A. French, 1846. 

“ Catherine Morrison, 1847. 

D. B. Wheeler, 1847, 48. 

J. D. Littlefield, 1848. 

Miss Maria S. Breed, 1848 to 50. 
“ M. R. Mann, 1850. 

“ C. B. Tucker, 1851. 


Assistants, Mixed School. 

Miss Louisa Gan net, 1848. 

“ S. M. Landon, 1849. 

“ Lavina Fish, 1849. 

“ Matilda Durell, 1849. 

“ H. A. M. Mason, 1849, 50. 
“ S. H. Thayer, 1850. 


E IT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1866. 

Teachers in Drawing. 

Miss S. E. Littlefield. 

M. L. Davenport. 

“ S. M. Yose. 


Teachers in Music. 

H. G. Carey, 1880 to 84. 

A. W. Thayer, 1884 to 87. 


Teachers in Sewing. 

Miss Harriet E. Brown, 1883. 
Mrs. W. H. B. Root, 1884 to 87. 


SCHOOL SINCE 1846. 

Grammar School. 

D. S. Wentworth, 1851 to 53. 
B. C. Yose, 1853. 

B. Paine, 1854. 

W. S. Clark, 1854, 55. 

F. Jacobs, 1855 to 58. 

M. C. Towle, 1858, 59. 

A. N. True, 1859, 60. 

W. H. Mayhen, 1860 to 64. 

L. Waterman, 1864. 

A. O. Fellows, 1865. 

H. G. Manahan, 1865 to 67. 

J. D. Billings, 1867, 68. 

W. B. Atwood, 1868, 69. 

P. A. Gay, 1870 to 1878. 

B. J. Legate, 1878, 79. 

George H. Culver, 1879, 80. 
Clarence Boylston, 1880 to 87. 




352 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Assistant, Grammar School. 
Miss H. D. Hutchinson, 1870, 71. 


Primary School—Established 
1851. 

Miss R.NT. Wentworth, 1851 to 53. 
“ M. E. Murray, 1853, 54. 

“ L. A. Nightingale, 1854 to 59. 
“ S. A. Nightingale, 1860. 

“ M. J. Stewart, 1860 to 64. 

“ P. W. Bunker, 1865 to 70. 


TEACHERS IN SO 

Miss Mary A. Kennedy, 1846, 47. 
B. P. Williams, 1846. 

E. H. Holmes, 1847, 48. 

Miss Mary G. Tucker, 1848, 49. 

“ Mary A. Kennedy, 1849. 
Frederick Winson, 1849. 

Miss M. E. Wilbur, 1850, 51. 

“ R. Lynch, 1851 to 54. 

“ C. C. Tufts, 1853, 54. 

“ S. T. Walker, 1854 to 56. 

W. S. Everett, 1856 to 61. 

Miss E. C. Fisher, 1861 to 64. 

B. F. Blake, 1863, 64. 

Miss L. J. Cory, 1864. 

W. M. Bicknell, 1864 to 66. 

E. B. Fox, 1866 to 68. 

H. A. Freeman, 1868. 

Mrs. A. G. Carpenter, 1868, 69. 


Miss M. G. Westgate, 1870, 71. 

“ A. R. Rounsaville, 1871, 72. 
“ H. D. Hutchinson, 1872 to 87. 
“ Irene F. Waters, 1884. 

“ Mary E. Barrett, 1884. 


Assistants, Primary School. 

Miss C. L. Pierce, 1877, 78. 

“ J. P. Wate, 1878. 

“ A. S. Wate, 1879 to 84. 

“ S. Addie Bundy, 1884 to 87. 


SCHOOL SINCE 1846. 

Miss E. F. Simmons, 1869. 

“ Louisa Bronsden, 1869. 

“ S. G. Hinckley, 1870. 

“ Lucia Millett, 1870. 

L. A. Leonard, 1871. 

“ J. W. Kennedy, 1872., 

“ E. S. Mosher, 1873 to 75. 

Mrs. E. E. Sullivan, 1875, 76. 

Miss F. G. Morse, 1876 to 79. 

“ L. Roberta Capen, 1879, 80. 

“ L. J. Bartlett, 1880 to 82. 

“ Emily R. Holbrook, 1882 to 86. 
“ Julia M. Gordon, 1886, 87. 


Assistant. 

Miss Mary A. Farrington, 1887. 


TEACHERS IN EAST SCHOOL SINCE 1846. 


Grammar School. 

G. T. Littlefield, 1846 to 48. 
Adoniram Aldin, 1848. 

D. B. Wheeler, 1849. 

A. Alden, 1849. 

George W. Beal, 1849. 

W. C. Davol, 1850. 

D. S. Wentworth, 1850, 51. 

A. Wellington, 1851. 

L. T. Butler, 1851, 52. 

A. H. Flint, 1852, 1854. 

Elmer Washburne, 1854 to 56. 

H. W. Wentworth, 1856, 57. 
A. Alden, 1857. 

W. S. Cobb, 1857. 

G. S. Webster, 1857 to 63. 

C. M. Barrows, 1863 to 65. 


G. K. Daniell, jr., 1865. 66. 

C. Richardson, 1867, 68. 

S. J. Bullock, 1868 to 70. 

J. M. Teele, 1871. 

O. A. Andrews, 1871, 87. 

Miss Kate Cummerford, 1882. 


Assistants, Grammar School. 

Miss L. F. Emerson, 1870 to 74. 
“ C. J. Babcock, 1870. 


Primary School. 

Miss C. A. F. Beale, 1846 to 48. 

“ Mary A. Babcock, 1848 to 51. 
Charles F. Hobart, 1851, 57. 





MILTON TEACHERS. 


853 


Miss A. L. Flynn, 1852. 

“ S. F. Emery, 1852. 

“ M. A. Emery, 1857. 

“ E. T. Jones, 1857, 58. 

“ M. E. Yose, 1858 to 61. 

“ M. F. Whitman, 1861 to 63. 
“ C. E. Mayhew, 1863 to 87. 


Assista?its Primary School. 
Miss S. Y. Breck, 1879 to 83. 

“ Emma L. Ziegler, 1884 to 86. 
“ M. Beulah Cook, 1887. 


TEACHERS IN WEST 

Mixed School. 

Seth Littlefield, 1846, 47. 

Joseph D. Littlefield, 1847, 48. 
Charles F. Patch, 1848. 

Miss Clara B. Tucker, 1848. 

Charles F. Patch, 1849 to 52. 

E. C. Delano, 1852 to 55. 

E. F. Wood, 1855 to 62. 

James Sumner, 1859. 

W. F. Esty, 1862 to 64. 

B. F. Blake, 1864. 

H. F. Howard, 1862 to 68. 

Assistants, Mixed School. 

Miss Nellie Yose, 1865, 66. 

“ H. E. Barbour, 1866 to 68. 

“ A. M. Holmes, 1866. 

“ F. M. Kendall, 1868. 


Grammar School. 
Miss E. L. Darling, 1868, 69. 
“ L. S. Butler, 1869, 70. 


TEACHERS IN CENTRE SCHOOL K 

Mixed School. 

Miss Mary D. Breck, 1832, 33. 

“ -Talbot, 1834. 

Nathan Metcalf, 1835. 

W. H. Swan, 1835, 36. 

John P. Robinson, 1836, in hall 
over Reed’s store. 

Susan E. Adams, 1836, in vestry of 
church ; 1837, in new school-house. 
W. H. Swan, 1837 to 39. 

Rufus Adams, 1839 to 42. 

Almira Jones, 1842, 43. 


Intermediate School. 

Miss S. F. Emery, 1853 to 58. 

“ M. E. Yose, 1854, 58. 

“ S. T. Littlefield, 1858. 

“ G. F. Penniman, 1874 to 77. 
“ L. J. Blaisdell, 1877. 

“ F. A. Wiggin, 1877 to 79. 

“ E. Reddington, 1879. 

“ C. F. Spear, 1879 to 81. 

“ A. F. Kelley, 1881. 

“ Emma L. Ziegler, 1881. 

“ Fanny Potter, 1881, 82. 

“ Alice E. Linekin, 1883 to 87. 


SCHOOL SINCE 1846. 

Miss R. H. Holyoke, 1870. 

J. W. Brown, 1870, 71. 

S. W. Clarke, 1871, 73. 

J. W. Clarke, 1874, 77. 

A. G. Fisher, 1878. 

D. G. Thompson, 1878 to 82. 

W. T. Hart, 1882 to 87. 

Assistant, Grammar School. 
Miss K. C. Bradlee, 1875. 

Primary School. 

Miss Hattie E. Barbour, 1868. 

“ Fannie M. Kendall, 1869,70. 
“ Nellie F. Yose, 1872, 73. 

“ L. W. Yose, 1873 to 77. 

“ Helen E. Sumner, 1877, 78. 

“ M. L. Pierce, 1878, 79. 

“ M. E. Tufts, 1879, 80. 

“ M. E. Upham, 1880 to 82. 

“ Emma L. Ziegler, 1881. 

“ Grace B. Fisher, 1882, 83. 

“ Kate L. Brown, 1883 to 87. 

rCE IT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1832. 

Mr.- Brown, 1843. 

John Q. Adams, 1844. 

Miss M. A. Kennedy, 1844, 45. * 

4 ‘ Helen French, 1845. 

Mrs. M. S. Webster, 1846, 47. 

N. B. Bryant, 1846, 47. 

Gorham Bartlett, 1847. 

Ahira Holmes, 1847 to 49. 

Miss Alice Cunningham, 1849, 50. 

“ Sarah M. Yose, 1850, 51. 

J. Moore, 1851, 52. 

Miss H. A. Emerson, 1852, 53. 

“ C. R. Haven, 1853. 





354 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Miss M. E. Balch, 1853 to 55. 
“ E. T. Jones, 1855. 

Assistants, Mixed School. 
Miss E. J. Gerrish, 1847. 

“ Elizabeth Sias, 1849, 50. 
“ M. S. Kendall, 1850, 51. 

Grammar School. 
John L. Davis, 1855 to 62. 
David Bentley, 1862 to 64. 

M. T. Copeland, 1864 to 68. 

E. T. Crafts, 1868 to 76. 
Clarence Boylston, 1876 to 80. 
Miss M. E. Parsons, 1880, 81. 
Winthrop Packard, 1880, 81. 


O. W. Sears, 1881 to 86. 

C. F. Merrick, 1887. 

Assistant, Grammar School. 
Miss M. G. Shepherd, 1872, 73. 


Primary School, established 1860. 
Miss G. M. Clapp, 1860 to 65. 

“ H. A. Cowles, 1861. 

“ C. T. Clapp, 1865, 66. 

“ E. C. Emerson, 1866 to 79. 

“ Ida M. Sears, 1879 to 87. 

Assistant, Primary School. 
Miss M. F. Emerson, 1877. 


TEACHERS IN PLEASANT-STREET SCHOOL SINCE IT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 
1852. 


Mixed School. 

Miss L. D. Bacon, 1852 to 55. 

“ M. E. Yose, 1855, 56. 
Josiah Fairbank, 1856, 57. 

Miss S. P. Adams, 1857. 

B. B. Torrey, 1857, 58. 

W. H. Mayhew, 1858 to 60. 

Miss E. M. Emerson, 1860 to 62. 
“ H. A. Cowles, 1862 to 64. 

“ S. D. Nute, 1864 to 69. 

“ A. G. Pierce, 1869 to 79. 

“ E. M. Barbour, 1872, 73. 


Assistants, Mixed School. 

Miss A. N. Grover, 1877. 

“ M. A. King, 1878, 79. 

Grammar School. 

Miss A. G. Pierce, 1879 to 87. 

Primary School. 

Miss Olive Holbrook, 1879 to 83. 
“ Sarah Y. Breck, 1884 to 87. 


TEACHERS IN FAIRMOUNT SCHOOL. ESTABLISHED IN 1857. 


Mixed School. 

Miss A. M. Nightingale, 1857, 58. 
Mrs. H. F. Rich, 1858, 59. 

Miss M. J. Stewart, 1859. 

B. C. Yose, 1859 to 63. 

A. Sherman, 1863 to 65. 

P. D. Leonard, 1865, 66. 

Assistants, Mixed School. 
Miss M. H. Paysen, 1863 to 65. 

“ A. F. Williams, 1865, 66. 


Grammar School. 

P. D. Leonard, 1867. 68. 

Fairmont set off to Hyde Park in 
1868. 

Primary School. 

Miss A. F. Williams, 1867. 

“ S. A. Everett, 1867, 68. 


TEACHERS IN MATTAPAN SCHOOL. ESTABLISHED IN 1877. 


Miss A. Bunker, 1877, 78. 

Mrs. S. A. Williams, 1878 to 81. 
Miss Fanny Potter, 1881. 

“ Emily Holbrook, 1881, 82. 

“ L. Jennie Bartlett, 1882 to 84. 


Miss M. R. Leavitt, 1885. 

“ Addie A. Jackson, 1885. 

“ Lilia D. Ide, 1885, 86. 

“ Orissa M. Baxter, 1886, 87. 






MILTON TEACHERS. 


355 


STATISTICAL REPORT OF MILTON SCHOOLS. 


Valuation of Milton, 1885 .$12,385,150 

Number of children between five and fifteen, May 

1, 1885 . 627 

Number of schools. 15 

Number of teachers ...... 17 

Whole number of pupils registered during year . 679 

Average number belonging ..... 536 

Average daily attendance. 499 

Ratio of attendance to average number belonging, .93- 

expenditures FOR THE YEAR. 

Teachers’ salaries, fuel, and care of rooms . . $14,455.92 

Repairs, incidentals, music, sewing, and supervi¬ 
sion . . . . . ... . . 4,825.87 


$19,281.79 


MILTON GRADUATES OF HARVARD COLLEGE. 


1690, Rev. Benjamin Wadsworth. 
1690, Joseph Belcher. 

1696, Peter Thacher. 

1697, John Swift. 

1698, Oxenbridge Thacher. 

1698, Richard Billings. 

1700, John Holman. 

1703, Nathaniel Pitcher. 

1706, Peter Thacher. 

1708, Recompense Wadsworth. 
1717, Joseph Belcher. 

1720, Joseph Gooch. 

1722, Ebenezer Miller. 

1723, J ohn W ads worth. 

1723, Joseph Belcher. 

1724, Isaac Billings. 

1733, Seth Adams. 

1735, William Foye. 

1735, Samuel Swift. 

1737, Benjamin Prat. 

1738, Oxenbridge Thacher. 

1741, Grindall Rawson. 

1744, Nathaniel Tucker. 

1752, John Miller. 

1769, Benjamin Wadsworth. 

1769, Peter Thacher. 

1770, Samuel Kinsley Glover. 
1770, William S. Hutchinson. 
1772, Josiah Badpock. 


1773, Samuel Henshaw. 

1775, Rufus Badcock. 

1775, Edward H. Robbins. 

1775, Thomas Thacher. 

1778, Job Sumner. 

1778, Jesse Tucker. 

1783, J. Smith Boies. 

1783, Ebenezer Tucker. 

1784, N. J. Robbins. 

1787, Solomon Yose. 

1787, John Murray Forbes. 

1790, Roger Yose. 

1796, Charles Pinckney Sumner. 
1812, Edward H. Robbins. 

1816, Jason Reed. 

1822, Josiah Bent. 

1826, Charles Rollin Kennedy. 

1831, Nathaniel Tucker Bent. 

1831, Asaph Churchill. 

1831, Wm. Saxton Morton. 

1831, Warren Jacobs Whitney. 

1836, JohnRuggles. 

1840, Joseph McKean Churchill. 

1845, Charles Marshall Spring 

Churchill. 

1846, Jonathan Russell. 

1852, William Robert Ware. 

1854, Joseph Rowe Webster. 

1856, Jonathan Chapman. 







HISTORY OF MILTON. 


856 


•1859, AmorLeanderHollingsworth, 

1860, Henry S. Russell. 

1861, William Hathaway Forbes. 

1862, Charles Pickard Ware. 

1863, George Shattuek Morison. 
1867, Horace Everett Ware. 

1869, Robert Swain Morison. 

1869, Nathaniel Morton Safford. 

1869, Robert Clifford Watson. 

1870, Thomas Lesley Hinckley. 

1871, William Ellery Channing 

Eustis. 


1873, Lemuel Hollingsworth Bab¬ 

cock. 

1874, Edward Emerson Simmons. 

1875, Gorham Palfrey Faucon. 

1875, Frank Sedgwick Watson. 

1876, Frederic Henry Kidder. 

1877, Stedman Willard Clary. 

1879, Charles Archibald Kidder. 

1880, Franklin Davis White. 

1884, Hollis Webster. 

1886, Frank Spooner Churchill. 

1887, James Savage Russell. 


GRADUATES OF YALE COLLEGE. 

1833, Joshua Thomas Tucker. I 1851, James Gardiner Yose. 

1842, Albert Kendall Teele. j 1859, Thomas Edwin Ruggles. 


Elisha G. Babcock was a graduate of Amherst College, 1824. 
Nathaniel Foster Safford was a graduate of Dartmouth College, 1835. 
Edward Lillie Pierce was a graduate of Brown University, 1850. 
Walter Denison Brooks was a graduate of Williams College, 1868. 



INDUSTRIES OF MILTON. 


357 


CHAPTER XII. 

INDUSTRIES OF MILTON. 


T HE first manufactories of the town sprang up along the 
Neponset river, where various enterprises were started at 
a very early date. 

The early adventurers were led, by the natural advantages of 
the river, to settle in its near vicinity, and were quick to discern 
the water-power at the head of navigation and at the rapids 
above. 

The river has been identified with the whole history of the 
town. It has proved an important factor in its successful 
beginnings and in its subsequent development. A description 
of it will be of interest to every citizen. 

NEPONSET RIVEE. 

I have applied to our Indian interpreter, Dr. J. Hammond 
Trumbull, for the signification of the Indian word “ Neponset.” 
But though that eminent scholar was so felicitous in his inter¬ 
pretation of Unquity-quisset, he informs me that thus far the 
word “ Neponset ” resists all analysis. 

The Neponset river takes its rise in the northern part of the 
town of Foxborough. In that section there are large tracts of 
swamps and of low, springy lands, from which issue several 
little streams, which, combined, form the western branch of the 
Neponset. 

In the year 1846 a number of the mill-owners on the river 
obtained from the Legislature an act of incorporation, under 
the title of the “ Neponset Reservoir Company,” for the pur¬ 
pose of securing and retaining for their mills a reserve of water 
for a time of drought. By throwing a dam across the stream 
formed by the united brooklets flowing from these low lands, 
the waters are retained and thrown back over an area of be¬ 
tween three and four hundred acres, lying within North, Beach, 
Mechanic, and Chestnut streets in Foxborough, giving a general 
depth of eight feet when well filled. This is known as the 
“ Neponset Reservoir.” From this source a small stream flows 


358 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


northerly into Walpole, where it receives the waters of 
Diamond brook, rising in Sharon, and Mill brook, rising in 
Medfield. From Walpole it enters the southerly part of Nor¬ 
wood, and flows northerly, easterly, and southerly, receiving 
the waters of Bubbling brook from Medfield and Dover, and of 
Traphole brook, from Sharon, and forms the boundary between 
Norwood and the northerly point of Sharon. Thence it flows 
northerly, forming the boundary between Norwood and Canton, 
where it receives the large stream called the eastern branch of 
the Neponset, formed by the overflow of Massapoag pond, in 
Sharon, uniting with the waters of York brook from the 
north-east part of Canton. Running still in a northerly course 
it becomes the boundary between Dedham and Canton, receiv¬ 
ing the surplus waters from Ponkapog. 

For upwards of seven miles, through Norwood and Dedham 
to Paul’s bridge, the river flows through a tract of low meadow 
land, called the “ Great Fowl Meadows,” from a peculiar grass 
that grew there, abounding in seed, which made it the choice 
feeding-ground for large flocks of birds and fowl. For about 
half a mile west of Paul’s bridge the river forms the boundary 
between Milton and Hyde Park, and for a short distance east of 
the bridge; thence running through the southerly part of 
Hyde Park, it is fed by “ Mother brook,” which is formed by 
diverting one-third of the water of Charles river from its 
natural course, and turning it through Dedham and Hyde 
Park into the Neponset. Leaving Hyde Park, the river takes 
a more easterly course, forming the boundary between Milton 
and Boston, and between Quincy and Boston, till it is lost in 
the waters of the bay. 


TIDES. 

The head of tide-water is at Milton Village, or Milton 
Lower Mills. Here the average high tide rises within four 
inches of the top of a triangular rock standing out from the bed 
of rocks at the end of the mill erected by Dr. Ware, and about 
ten feet distant therefrom, near the Milton end of the foot¬ 
bridge, and on its west side. 

The ordinary rise of the tide from low to high water is about 
ten feet; while the greatest known range between low and high 
water is nineteen feet five and a half inches. The top of the 
bolt sunk in the rock on the east side of the bridge shows the 
height of the tide of April 16, 1851, called the “light-house 
tide,” which was the highest ever known, and is recorded as six 
feet eight and a half inches above average tide. This bolt was 




BRIDGES. 


359 


bent over by tbe flood, of Feb., 1886, but not displaced. Its 
exact height is preserved by other tide-marks near the river. 

The white brick inserted on the east face of the chimney of 
the Milton chocolate building, about thirteen feet from the top, 
indicates the height of one hundred feet above ordinary high 
tide, or marsh level. 


FISH. 

In early times the river was full of fish of various kinds, 
which afforded a large revenue to the early settlers, and con¬ 
tributed in no small degree to the support of the inhabitants 
through the protracted wars of the last century. 

Within the present century bass and ale wives were abundant 
in the river, but all have now disappeared. 

1771 June 10. Caught 2000 shad in one day in the seine. — 1772 June 
25. Caught 6000 shad menhaden and bass. 1773 June 14. ' Made a great 
haul of shad, caught 4000 sent 40 barrels to Boston. — S. Pierce's Diary.. 


BRIDGES. 

In the earliest times the passage over the river at the Lower 
Mills was by the ford, a short distance above the present 
bridge. 

Near this point the first bridge was built, by Israel Stough¬ 
ton, in 1634. 

1634 April l 8ti M r Israel Stoughton hath liberty granted him to build a 
Myll a Ware and a bridge oyer Naponsett Ryver, and to sell the Alewives 
hee takes att 5 s " the thousand. — Court Records. 

It is highly probable that this was but a foot-bridge, as most 
of the inhabitants of Dorchester were several miles distant on 
the north side of the river, and residents on the south side 
were still farther removed, at or near the Plymouth colony, 
with only foot or bridle paths on each side. Besides, on peti¬ 
tion of Mrs. Stoughton, twenty years later, it was decided 
that, — 


As the fording was hard and good for passing, she be discharged from 
keeping a horse bridge and be permitted to maintain a good foot bridge 
with a good rayle. 

Doubtless the river was the chief passage-way to the mill 
for the people of Dorchester, while the travel between the 




360 


HISTORY OF MILTON,\ 


Bay and Plymouth colonies was by the ford and the ferries, 
two of which had been established at the above date. 

May 23. 1655. It appearing that the bridge over Naponsit Rivere is 
wholly ruined and that there is, as alledged, a necessity of a cart bridge 
over that river at some place near Mrs. Stoughtons Mill, the Court ap¬ 
pointed a committee of seven &c. 

One of this committee was Richard Collicot, who had then 
built his house a mile from the river, on the Milton side; an¬ 
other was Mr. Dyar, of Weymouth; and a third, Mr. Bass, of 
Braintree. The said committee was delegated with full power 
to “select the place, complete the work, and make returns to 
the next County Court.” 

This committee — some of whom were especially interested 
for themselves and their several towns in securing a passage¬ 
way over the river which lay in their path to Boston — suc¬ 
ceeded in erecting a substantial bridge below the present one, 
of greater length, and running more obliquely across the 
stream. With partial rebuilding and frequent repairs this 
bridge stood more than a hundred years. 

In the year 1765 the towns of Dorchester and Milton con¬ 
structed a new wooden bridge, with stone piers, where the 
present bridge now stands, but at a lower grade. 

No further change was made until 1847, when stone arches 
took the place of the old structure, the bridge was raised four 
and a half feet, and was widened out beyond its former dimen¬ 
sions. One-half of the expense of this change, amounting to 
$1,346.30, was met by each of the towns interested. The fill¬ 
ing in, required to meet the new grade of the bridge and to 
give sufficient height to the railroad bridge, greatly reduced 
the rise of the hills on both sides of the river, and improved in 
no small degree the general appearance of the place. 

In 1871 the sum of $10,000 was expended by Milton and 
Dorchester in widening this bridge, and in other improve¬ 
ments, which placed it in its present condition. 

MATTAPAN BRIDGE. 

As early as 1709 the river at Mattapan began to be employed 
in aid of industrial pursuits, and a cart-bridge was talked of to 
facilitate the work. There had been a bridge of some kind at 
this point for many years, probably a foot-bridge near the ford, 
to accommodate farmers in reaching the ox-pen. 

In 1712 the selectmen of Milton “laid out an open high¬ 
way from the ox-pen to the river where a cart-bridge is to be 


BRIDGES. 


361 


erected.” The road may not have been built when it was laid 
out, but the present road to the bridge is in the same line as the 
one then projected. The bridge was not erected in 1712, but 
the old bridge may have been repaired by the mill-owners for 
their own convenience. 

On the 18th of September, 1734, a highway was laid out over 
the bridge near Jackson’s Mills, by order of the General Sessions 
of the Peace for the County of Suffolk. In the year 1736 a 
petition was preferred to said Sessions by Robert Spur and 
others, praying that said bridge might be made a county 
charge. In the same year, in consequence of said petition, 
Col. Dudley and others were appointed a committee, who re¬ 
ported “ that it ought to be repaired at the charge of the county, 
which accordingly was done.” 

This bridge was rebuilt by Dorchester in 1760, at a cost of 
<£34 6s. Id.; when the selectmen applied to the Court of General 
Sessions for the payment of this sum and were refused, Jan. 2, 
1761. The General Court was petitioned by Dorchester that 
this bridge be deemed a county bridge and be maintained at 
the charge of the county of Suffolk. The disposal of the peti¬ 
tion is as follows : — 

In Council, Jan. 2, 1761. Read and Accepted. 

Sent down for concurrence. 

A. Oliver Secretary. 

In House oe Representatives, Jan. 13, 1761. 

Read and nonconcurred, and ordered that the petition referred to he dis¬ 
missed. 

Sent up for concurrence. 

James Otis Speaker. 

In Council, Jan. 13, 3761. Read and concurred. 

A. Oliver Secretary. 

Citizens of Milton appeared in favor of the petition with the 
plea — 

That being acquainted with the upper and lower roads over Naponset 
River leading from Stoughton through Milton and Dorchester to Boston, we 
judge that four Creatures of the same strength will carry a load to Boston 
y e upper road over the bi'idge near Jacksons Mills as easily as five creat¬ 
ures will the lower road. 

Stoughton, Medfield, Walpole, and Boston appeared as re¬ 
monstrants. In the remonstrance of Boston it is stated — 

That by reason of the erection of the Slitting-Mill, in 1732, public neces¬ 
sity called for a new bridge at this point where a bridge had existed for 


362 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


fifty, sixty, or seventy years before, and the County of Suffolk constructed 
the bridge in 1736, for the benefit of the public having connection with the 
mill; that not a dollar had been expended by the County in the repairs of 
the bridge from the day of its erection till it was rebuilt by Dorchester in 
1760. — State Archives , Lib. 121 , Fol. 377-379. 

It appears, therefore, that after the bridge was built by the 
county, in 1T36, it thenceforth came under the jurisdiction of 
the towns adjacent to the river, and was rebuilt and maintained 
by Dorchester and Milton. This condition of things remained 
till the bridge and its maintenance were assumed by the Brush 
Hill Turnpike Corporation, in 1805. 

In 1848, this bridge “ being in an unsafe and dangerous con¬ 
dition,” the county commissioners laid out a quarter of a mile 
of the road, including this bridge and the Trench bridge, as a 



public highway, thus throwing it for support upon the towns 
abutting the river. In 1850 a new stone bridge was built over 
the river at this point. Milton’s share of the expense was $670. 

The new iron bridge now spanning the river at Mattapan 
was put in place and completed Oct. 28, 1869. For this, Milton 
paid $1,324.10, being one-half of the cost. 

Paul’s bridge. 

There was a bridge at the foot of “ Fowl Meadows,” for the 
benefit of the farmers in that section, at an early date, called 
“ Hubbard’s bridge.” It was built by Mr. Hubbard, the second 
husband of a daughter of Israel Stoughton, who owned a large 
tract of land on the river, inherited from his father-in-law, Col. 
Stoughton. In 1759 the towns of Milton and Dedham rebuilt 
this bridge, the cost to be met in proportion to the province 
tax of each town. 






BRIDGES. 


863 


In 1807 it was again rebuilt, on the same conditions; but 
before this date it took the name of “Paul’s bridge,” from the 
owner of the adjacent lands on the Dedham side. 

In 1849 the towns of Milton and Dedham erected a new stone 
bridge, which still stands, in good condition. Milton’s part of 
the expense was $627.62. 

GRANITE BRIDGE. 

The increase of the granite business at East Milton and West 
Quincy created the necessity for a more direct avenue across 
the river to Boston ; to meet this necessity Granite bridge was 
built in 1837. 

In 1848 two bridges were built by the Dorchester and Milton 
branch of the Old Colony Railroad over the Neponset, within 
the limits of Milton. 


FAIRMOITNT BRIDGE. 

A bridge across the river atFairmount (now Hyde Park) was 
constructed in 1857, towards which the town of Milton paid 
$696. 

CENTRAL-AVENUE BRIDGE. 

Finally, the bridge at Central avenue was built in 1877, at 
a cost of $7,200, one-half of which was paid by Milton. 

Thus it appears that the Neponset is bridged seven times within 
the limits of Milton, — twice for the railroad, and five times for 
the convenience of public travel between the towns. To this 
number the bridge at Fairmount may fairly be added, as it was 
constructed in part by Milton, while the territory belonged to 
this town, and still remains the passage-way over the river to 
the railroads for the residents of Brush Hill and vicinity. 


NAVIGATION. 

The river and landing-place, though now seemingly so quiet, 
in early days presented a scene of great business life and activ¬ 
ity. Before railroads were known, or bridges obstructed the 
passage of the stream, the head of navigation on the Neponset 
was a point of no little importance. 

The centre of trade was the immense wholesale and retail 
store of Daniel Yose, a man of great business activity and 
capacity, and a leading man of his day. He was the factor of 
the farmers and producers for a wide section of country. 



364 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Trains of baggage teams from interior towns and from Bristol 
County, bringing in the merchandise gathered from country 
stores, made this their terminus, and received in exchange for 
their articles of trade West India goods and other commodities. 
Butter, cheese, eggs, flaxseed, hoop-poles, etc., were the chief 
articles of traffic; in return for these the prolific store furnished 
everything, from a hogshead of molasses to a paper of pins. 
The sloops of Mr. Yose were running to Boston, Salem, 
Gloucester, and other places, to meet the demands of his business, 
which embraced, in addition to the store, a paper-mill, chocolate- 
mill, saw-mill, grist-mill, lumber-wharf, and distillery. 

In the year 1777 the French fleet of thirteen large ships, 
under the command of Count d’Estaing, was supplied with fresh 
water for the return passage, from Neponset river. By contract 
with Daniel Yose it was taken from above the dam. in butts, 
and conveyed by his sloops to the French ships, the French 
mariners, under their own officers, doing all manual labor. 

In the year 1833 navigation in the river reached its climax. 
Seventy-four vessels, of an aggregate of six thousand tons, 
discharged their freight at the village, besides many others that 
came up the river empty, and loaded with granite. 

Larger vessels are now employed in the lumber and coal 
trade, which, though less in number, aggregate even a greater 
tonnage. It is manifest that the tonnage of lumber, coal, and 
grain discharged at the landing-place and station in Milton 
increases with the increase of population and demand; and 
these industries now furnish the chief, if not the only, business 
in the navigation of the river. 

On this little river, and within the borders of this town, 
started some of the industries which were most important to 
the welfare of the early inhabitants, and have ever since con¬ 
tributed to the happiness, the prosperity, and the wealth of our 
country and of mankind. 

GRAIN BUSINESS., 

The first grain-store at the village was opened, in 1827, by 
William Hobart, of Braintree. His grain was shipped directly 
from New York, in schooners chartered by himself, which re¬ 
turned laden with granite. Joseph Young was the successor of 
William Hobart in the grain business. He carried it on for a 
few years, and sold to Jason F. Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy was 
followed by Samuel Everett, and he by George K. Gannett, 
when it passed into the hands of Samuel Gannett, the present 
owner. From year to year the business has gradually increased, 


INDUSTRIES OF MILTON. 


365 


until, under the present management, it furnishes supplies of 
grain and hay through a wide section in Milton and the neigh¬ 
boring towns. 


LUMBER BUSINESS. 

Daniel Yose dealt in lumber, for the accommodation of his 
customers; but the first special lumber wharf was established 
by Joseph Porter, a native of Wrentham, in 1824. He con¬ 
tinued in the business till 1834, and was succeeded by Samuel 
Everett and Clapp & Everett till 1839. General Whitney car¬ 
ried on a small lumber business on his own wharf prior to 1839. 
R. M. Todd and Seth D. Whitney purchased the lease of the 
wharf, and had the trade from 1839 to 1842, when Mr. Whitney 
retired, and Mr. Todd conducted the business alone for twenty- 
four years. In 1866 George K. Gannett was admitted as part¬ 
ner, and Mr. Todd retired Jan. 1, 1870. Jan. 1, 1871, Mr. 
Gannett sold to Lewis & Godfrey. Mr. Lewis retired Jan. 1, 
1872. The business was continued by O. S. Godfrey till 1881, 
when his son Nathan became a partner, under the style of O. S. 
Godfrey & Son. Mr. Godfrey died in 1883, and F. M. Robin¬ 
son became a member of the firm, under the same name. 

No. of lumber vessels in 1875, 13. I Brick vessels in 1875, 8. 
“ “ ■ “ 1885, 23. | “ “ 1885, 7. 

Quantity of lumber and building material sold in 1875, $54,980.32 
“ “ “ “ “ 1885, $72,754.98 


COAL BUSINESS. 

Anthracite coal was first offered for sale in Milton by Joseph 
Porter, about 1830. The business was carried on by him and 
by Clapp & Porter till 1839. At this early date there was 
but little demand for coal; some years none was landed at the 
wharf. Messrs. Todd & Whitney began to deal in it in 1839, 
in connection with their lumber trade, and continued till 1842, 
when, the firm being dissolved, the business was carried on by 
Mr. Todd till 1857. Then George Gibson had the business for 
one year. In 1858 Mr. Todd took it up again. G. K. Gannett 
became partner with Mr. Todd in 1866; in January, 1869, they 
sold the coal business to E. D. Wadsworth, who kept it six 
years, and then sold to L. N. Godfrey. He sold to O. S. God¬ 
frey in 1878, who held the trade till his death, in 1883. Since 
that time it has been carried on by his heirs. 


366 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Amount of coal sold in 1889 
“ “ “ 1845 

“ u u i 8 05 

“ “ “ 1874 

“ “ “ 1885 

No. of vessels with coal, 1869 
“ “ “ 1873 

“ “ “ 1885 


about 300 tons. 


550 

“ 

1,900 


7,855 

10,119 

15 


21 


25 


In addition to the industries of Milton village already de¬ 
scribed, are the following now in operation: The carpentry 
of S. M. Severance, supplying occupation to from sixty to 
seventy-five men; the extensive establishment of Strangman 
& Co., embracing planing, moulding, sawing mills; blacksmith, 
painting, and carriage business; two grocery stores, a drug¬ 
store, a gentleman’s furnishing store, jewelry store, boot and 
shoe store, provision store, all of long standing; Strangman’s 
harness-making shop, Chapman’s paint-shop, and Crossman’s 
extensive stables and shops. In olden times a single store 
located at the end of the bridge embraced many of these 
branches of trade, as will be seen in the note below. 1 


1 The following rhymed advertisement, presenting a real picture of the old-time country 
store, appeared in the “ Norfolk Repository,” published at Dedham in 1805. It is the 
production of Samuel Temple, a man of note in his day. He was the author of “ Temple’s 
Arithmetic” and the “ Child’s Assistant,” both of which were popular in the schools of 
the times. The store of Mr. Temple stood not far from the tavern on the Dorchester side. 
He afterwards moved to Milton, and kept a drug-store, where he died, in 1815. The arch 
referred to was erected over the bridge at the dividing line between Dorchester and Milton, 
suggested by the attempt of the commissioners, Pinckney, Gerry, and Marshall, to ne¬ 
gotiate a treaty with Prance in 1798. It bore in letters of gold the following inscription : 
“ We unite in defense of our country and its laws 1798 .” It was blown down in the gale 
of 1815. 

ADVERTISEMENT EXTRA. 


To be sold at the store opposite the Arch 
over Milton Bridge, the following articles 
viz: • 

Salt Pork and Powder, Shot & Flints 
Cheese, Sugar, Rum & Peppermints 

Tobacco, Raisins, Flour & Spice 
Flax, Cotton, Wool and sometimes Rice 

Old Holland Gin and Gingerbread 
Brandy & Wine, all sorts of Thread 

Segars I keep, sometimes one bunch; 
Materials all for making Punch. 

Biscuit and Butter, Eggs and Fishes 
Molasses, Beer and Earthen Dishes 

Books on such subjects as you’ll find 
A proper food to feast the mind. 


Hard Soap & Candles, Tea & Snuff, 
Tobacco pipes perhaps enough; 

Shells, Chocolate Stetson’s Hoes 
As good as can be (I suppose) 

Straw Hats, Oak Baskets, Oxen Muzzles 
A thing which many people puzzles 

Knives, Forks, Spoons, Plates, Mugs, 
Pitchers, Platters 

A Gun with Shot wild geese bespatters 

Spades, Shovels, Whetstones, Scythes, & 
Rakes 

As good as any person makes 

Shirts, Frocks, Shoes, Mittens, also Hose 
And many other kinds of Clothes 

Shears, Scissors, Awls, Wire, Bonnet Paper 
Old Violin and Cat Gut Scraper 







FIRST THINGS. 


367 


At East Milton there are one grocery and variety store, two 
grocery and provision stores, and one dry-goods store, together 
with the extensive granite business of West Quincy and East 
Milton, giving occupation to a large number of our citizens. 

Near Blue Hill is the grocery store of Tileston & Aldrich, 
and the provision store of H. B. Tucker. 


FIRST THINGS. 

We are not unduly earnest to claim for Milton the “First 
Things ” here spoken of. Until, however, other towns estab¬ 
lish a priority of claim Milton will stand first. 


THE FIRST GRIST-MILL. 

In 1633 Israel Stoughton petitioned the town of Dorchester 
for the right to erect a mill on the Neponset. 

The town granted it, with the privilege of cutting timber on 
his plantation for building the mill on condition that he should 
construct a bridge over the river. In 1634 the General Court 
confirmed the grant. The mill was built the same year, on the 
site now occupied by the Stone Chocolate Mill. In the autumn 
of 1634 the waters of the Neponset turned the first wheel ever 
set up on its shores, and ground the. first corn ever ground by 
water-power in New England. The mill proved of incalcula¬ 
ble advantage to the Dorchester plantation, and gave name and 
character to the locality. 

Israel Stoughton, proprietor of the mill, was grantee of the 
land for a long distance on the Milton shore of the river. The 
timber for the mill and the bridge grew on his Milton farm. 


Tubs, Buckets, Pails and Pudding Pans 
Bandanna Handkerchiefs & Fans 

Shagbarks and Almonds, Wooden Boxes 
Steel Traps, (not stout enough for Foxes 

But excellent for holding Rats 
When they ellude the Paws of Cats) 

I’ve more than Forty kinds of Drugs 
Some good for Worms and some for Bugs 
Lee’s, Anderson’s & Dexter Pills 
Which cure at least a hundred Ills 

Astringents, Laxatives, Emetics, 
Cathartics, Cordials, Diuretics, 

Narcotics, Stimulants & Pungents 
With half a dozen kinds of Unguents 


Perfumes most grateful to the Nose 
When mixed with Snuff or dropd on clothes 

One Medicine more (not much in fame) 
Prevention is its real name 
An ounce of which an author says 
Outweighs a Ton of Remedies 

I’ve many things I shall not mention 
To sell them cheap is my intention 
Lay out a dollar when you come 
And you shall have a glass of Rum 

N.B. Since man to man is so unjust 
Tis hard to say whom I can trust 
I’ve trusted many to my sorrow 
Pay me to-day. I’ll trust to-morrow 

Dorchester, June, 1805. 





368 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


The bridge united his property, and secured the benefits of the 
mill to the south side of the river as well as to the north. John 
Gill, who purchased of the heirs of Israel Stoughton the Milton 
estate, included in the purchase the grist-mill. This indi¬ 
cates a close connection between the mill and the Milton 
property. And this connection was affirmed by the authorities 
of Dorchester in 1662, when Milton was set off from that town, 
by adjudging that the grist-mill also be assigned to Milton as 
its taxable property. 

In the year of our Lord 1887, and in each of the two hundred 
and twenty-five preceding years that have passed since the 
town was incorporated, this mill has paid taxes to Milton, while 
other mills that from time to time have been built around the 
grist-mill, and are covered by the same roof, are taxed to the 
town in which they stand. Thus, though the grist-mill stands 
on Dorchester land, it may fairly be adjudged, as belonging to 
Milton. 


THE FIRST POWDER-MILL. 

In the custody of Edmund J. Baker, of Dorchester, may be 
found a deed on parchment, bearing date of August 22, 1673, 
from John Gill, of Milton, conveying to Rev. John Oxenbridge, 
pastor, Rev. James Allen, teacher, Robert Sanderson, one of 
the deacons of the First Church in Boston, also Captain John 
Hull and Freegrace Mendall, merchants of Boston, a tract of 
land situated at Neponset river in Milton, thirty rods long 
and six rods wide, together with one-half of the stream, for the 
purpose of erecting a powder-mill. The land thus conveyed is 
now occupied by the chocolate-mill of Mr. Pierce, and the grist¬ 
mill of Mr. Gannett, lying on the west side of Adams street 
and abutting the river. 

These five individuals, in connection with Mr. Thomas Thacher, 
Sen., Mr. Humphrey Davie, and Mr. John Wiswall, Sen., formed 
a partnership, July 16, 1675, for erecting a powder-mill and 
carrying on the same at Neponset, in the town of Milton. John 
Wiswall brought into the company a tract of land, of about 
eight acres, lying along the north side of the river just below 
the bridge, now covered in part by the large chocolate-mill of 
Mr. Pierce. 

The new company carried on their work of building and 
furnishing with so great despatch that in three months after 
the formation of the company everything was completed, as 
appears by the record: — 

[Courts Records Yol. 5, Page 51.] Oct. 13, 1675. A mill for making 
powder being erected at Ynkety or Dorchester mill by particular persons, 


FIRST THINGS. 


369 


and is now ready to worke with all materials, and there being danger in 
this time of warr of destruction by fire or otherwise to the sayd mill, which 
may be prejudicall to the publick as well as to pticular persons, all which 
the Court considering doe order that care be taken for a constant watch 
there for preservation of sayd mill and the greist mill adjoining thereunto, 
being of so great concernment both to the town of Dorchester and Milton, 
and that two watchmen be appointed there one from Dorchester and the 
other from Milton for that end. 

Nov. 3, 1675. This Court having ordered two watchmen from Dorchester 
and Milton to watch at Dorchester Mill and vnderstanding the vndertakers 
of the powder mill for the better diffence thereof are erecting a small stone 
watch-house at their own charges, on their request as being a publick con¬ 
cernment, this Court declares that the vndertakers of the powder mill may 
repair to any one magistrate who by the law is empowered to give warrant,, 
to impress workmen to cany on publick works of which this is. 

The powder-mill was erected on the Milton side, where the- 
grist-mill now stands, and the watch-house was on the Dor¬ 
chester side, just below the bridge. This was the first powder- 
mill in the country. 

The company placed Walter Everden in charge of the powder- 
mill, in which business he continued for nearly fifty years. 

Meanwhile much of the property had changed hands. Ever¬ 
den had purchased one share after another, until, in 1722, 
Everden and Israel Howe were the sole owners. About this 
time the partnership was dissolved. In the settlement then 
made Walter Everden took all the property in Dorchester, and 
Israel Howe took all the Milton portion. In 1724 Walter 
Everden sold to his son Benjamin the Dorchester property and 
retired from business. He died in 1725. 

In the year 1744 the original powder-mill in Milton blew up, 
destroying the building, and scattering the mutilated remains 
of the workmen in charge over the hill near by. 

Israel Howe, the owner of the powder-mill, died in 1736, 
leaving as his only heirs his widow Judith and two daughters, 
Elizabeth and Sarah. Sarah died early. His widow married 
Mr. Jenkins. Elizabeth married Nathaniel Gilman, of Halifax, 
and died childless. 

One half of the mill estate fell to Mr. Gilman, the husband of 
Elizabeth, and was set off on execution, in 1752, to Ebenezer 
Storer. 

The other half, from the estate of Elizabeth, went to her 
mother, Judith Jenkins, and was sold by her guardian, Joseph 
Howe, to Edward Wentworth and Henry Stone. Ebenezer 
Storer sold his half in 1765 to James Boies who sold the same 
to Edward Wentworth. Wentworth and Stone erected a saw 
and chocolate mill on the site of the original powder-mill, which 
had remained unimproved from the time the mill was destroyed, 


370 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


and commenced work March 8, 1765. In 1766 Henry Stone 
sold his share to Edward Wentworth, making him the sole 
owner. July 11, 1768, Edward Wentworth conveyed the 
property to Barlow Trecothic. 

Mr. Daniel Yose leased the mill until the death of Trecothic, 
and in 1792 bought the property of his trustees. Mr. Yose 
died in 1807. In the division of his estate the mill went to his 
son, Daniel T. Yose, and to his granddaughter, Clarissa, the 
wife of Dr. Henry Gardner; and upon the death of Daniel T. 
Yose, in 1837, Mrs. Gardner came into possession of the whole 
property. 

In 1817 the mill was leased to Mr. Francis Brinley, who con¬ 
verted it into an establishment for grinding and pulverizing 
drugs, medicines, and dyestuffs. He also put in a saw for 
veneers, and here were sawed the first veneers ever manufactured 
in America except by hand-power. August 1, 1827, the works 
were consumed by fire, but immediately rebuilt. The mill 
continued to be used for grinding drugs until sold by Mrs. 
Gardner, March 8, 1850, to the Dorchester Cotton and Iron 
Company. They removed the old red mill, and erected a 
chocolate and grist mill. Webb and Twombly took possession 
of the chocolate-mill in October, 1850, and purchased the same 
in May, 1855, where they carried on the chocolate manufacture. 
Mr. Twombly sold his interest to Mr. Webb in 1861. Mr. 
Webb sold to Henry L. Pierce, July 1, 1881, and retired 
from business. 

Mr. Pierce enlarged and greatly improved a portion of the 
mill, and in 1884 removed the remaining part, erecting in its 
place the imposing brick structure now occupying, in part, the 
site of the old powder-mill of 1675. 


THE FIRST PAPER-MILE. 

In the month of January, 1728, a company was formed for the 
purpose of carrying on the business of paper-making. 

The General Court was petitioned to grant the company the 
exclusive right to this manufacture in the Province for a term 
of fifteen years, as will appear in the accompanying transcript 
from the Court Records: — 

AH ACT FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OP PAPER-MAKING. 

Whereas the making of paper within this Province will be of public ben¬ 
efit and service, but inasmuch as the erecting of Mills for that purpose, and 
providing workmen and materials for the effecting that undertaking will 
necessarily demand a considerable disburse of money for some time, before 


FIRST THINGS. 


371 


any profit or gain can arise therefrom, and whereas Daniel Henchman Gil¬ 
lum Phillips, Benjamin Faneuil and Thomas Hancock together with Henry 
Deering are willing and desirous to undertake the manufacture of paper 
wherefore for the promoting so beneficial a desire : — 

Be it enacted by his Excellency the Governor Council and Representa¬ 
tives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same : — 

Section 1. — That the sole privilege and benefit of making paper within 
this Province shall be to the said Daniel Henchman, Gillum Phillips Benja¬ 
min Faneuil Thomas Hancock and Henry Deering and to their associates, 
for and during the term of ten years, from and after the tenth day of Decem¬ 
ber next insueing, &c. 

This act was passed Sept. 13, 1728, with several provisos. 

In the year 1706 the Rev. Joseph Belcher, minister of Ded¬ 
ham, who inherited from his grandfather, John Gill, a tract of 
land below the bridge on the Milton side of the river, with mill 
privileges, obtained permission from the selectmen of Milton to 
dig under and around the bridge, in order to convey the water 
to a mill he was about to erect. The mill, thus built twenty 
years before for other purposes, was leased by the Paper Com¬ 
pany, and fitted up for their business. This is believed to have 
been the first paper-mill in the country. They built a house for 
their workmen on nearly the same site of the house owned and 
occupied by the late Dr. Ware, leaving the upper story open to 
the free access of the air for drying the paper, which was sus¬ 
pended on poles adjusted for the purpose. This house was 
removed and the present house was built by Mr. Sanderson 
about 1820. 

The paper-works were carried on for many years, when the 
company, finding no little difficulty in securing skilful workmen, 
employed Jeremiah Smith, of Boston, to take charge of the busi¬ 
ness. Mr. Smith, though not a paper-maker, entered upon 
the work with great energy and tact, and was soon master 
of the business. He bought out the company, one after 
another, until, in time, he became sole owner of the concern. 
In 1741 he purchased of the Belcher heirs the mill and seven 
acres of land lying on the river, “ bounded north and east by 
the river, south by the public landing-place, and west by the 
highway.” 

In 1760 James Boies, son-in-law of Mr. Smith, secured for 
the paper-mill the services of Richard Clark, an English paper- 
maker from Newcastle, and a thorough and skilful workman, 
who conducted the business with much ability for five years, 
when, in company with James Boies, he started the same busi¬ 
ness in a new mill at Mattapan. 

In 1769 Mr. Smith sold half the mill to his son-in-law, 
Daniel Vose. They carried on the works in company until 


372 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


1775, when Mr. Yose purchased the other half, and Mr. Smith 
retired. 

In 1772 Dr. James Baker hired a part of the mill, fitted it up 
with a run of stones and set of kettles, and commenced the 
manufacture of chocolate. This was continued by Dr. Baker 
and his son, Edmund Baker, until 1804, when their business was 
removed to the mill built by Wentworth & Stone, in 1765, on 
the site of the first powder-mill. 

Mr. Yose continued the paper business until near the close of 
the century, and then retired from active business life. He died 
Dec. 7,1807. 

John Sullivan and Joseph Bodge occupied the paper-mill 
till 1800. 

In April, 1801, Isaac Sanderson, of Watertown, leased the 
property, and in 1810 purchased it of Daniel T. Yose and 
Elizabeth, wife of Edmund Baker, heirs of Daniel Yose. 

In 1803 Mr. Sanderson manufactured for the Boston Custom- 
House the first folio-post and quarto letter-paper ever made in 
New England. In 1817 he built a new paper-mill just below 
the old one, and put in a wrought-iron tub-wheel, which was 
the first iron water-wheel used in this section. Mr. Sanderson 
continued in the business till 1834, when the mill was leased to 
Joshua Ayers. In 1839 it was sold to Dr. Jonathan Ware, and 
for a time was used as a saw-mill by T. T. Wadsworth and E. 
B. Scott. Dr. Ware soon tore down the old mill erected by 
Belcher in 1708, and on its site built a new one with two 
reaction wheels; this was finished for a grist-mill and chocolate- 
mill. 

In 1843 Josiah Webb and Josiah F. Twombly took possession 
of the chocolate-mill, and remained there until 1850, when they 
removed to the mill afterwards purchased by them on the oppo¬ 
site side of Adams street. 

THE EERST CHOCOLATE-MILL. 

In the fall of the year of 1764 a wayfarer was encountered at the 
Lower Mills, who seemed to be in distress, and to require the 
attention and sympathy of those disposed to help the suffering. 
He claimed that he was John Hannan, from Ireland, a chocolate- 
maker by trade; that he came to this country with the hope of 
improving his condition, hut had utterly failed in all efforts to 
interest any one in his business; that he was a stranger in a 
strange land, penniless and friendless, and exhausted by hunger 
and fatigue. 

Mr. James Boies, of Milton, carefully investigated the case, 



fftfffi 

.ws.i'ifrt'i! 


Dpe R/|ILToN 

1^ocola'Te/\\i li_5 








FIRST THINGS. 


373 


and became convinced of the sincerity and capacity of the man. 
He interceded in his behalf, and induced Wentworth & Stone, 
who were at that time erecting a new mill in Milton on the site 
of the old powder-mill, to make provision in their mill for the 
manufacture of chocolate. This was done, and on the spot 
where the spacious and commodious chocolate building of Henry 
L. Pierce now stands, John Hannan , in the spring of 1765, manu¬ 
factured the first chocolate made in the British provinces of North 
America. 

This early introduction has been followed by its continued 
and increased manufacture in Milton and Dorchester, at various 
points and by different individuals, down to the present time. 
The whole business seems now to be centred in Dorchester and 
Milton villages, and to be conducted by a single proprietor. 

In the year 1885 the mill formerly of Webb & Twombly, 
built by the Dorchester Cotton & Iron Company in 1850 on the 
site of the old powder-mill, was removed, and the present 
structure of brick was erected. 

In this spacious building, on the Milton side of the river, in 
the large brick mill on the Dorchester section of the powder- 
mill estate, and in the Walter Baker stone mill, the manufacture 
of chocolate is carried on in a way to promote the best interests 
of the many laborers in the mills, and to secure to the people 
this wholesome and delicious article as pure and as good as 
skilful labor and painstaking can make it. 

It is a curious fact that on the very spot where the industry 
was started by John Hannan in 1765, and taken up by Dr. 
James Baker in 1772, the business has attained its highest 
development. 

From the small beginning by Dr. Baker there has grown up one of the 
greatest establishments in the world, — the house of Walter Baker & Co., 
— an establishment which competes successfully for prizes in all the great 
industrial exhibitions of the world, whose influence is felt in the great 
commercial centres, and whose prosperity promotes the welfare of men 
who labor under a tropical sun in the cultivation of one of the choicest 
fruits of the earth. 


THE FIRST SLITTING—MILL. 

David Colsen, of Boston, a fell-monger, bought of Jonathan 
Badcock, of Lebanon, Conn., Sept. 15, 1709, a tract of one 
hundred and twenty-seven acres of land, situated in Milton, on 
the Neponset river, “ bounded north by that river, and westerly 
by land sold by said Badcock to Manasseh Tucker that joins 
upon the grist-mill that stands upon the Neponset,” and at the 


374 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


same time about six acres in Dorchester, on the north side of 
the river, lying opposite the Milton purchase, with the right to 
dam the river and use the water in his business of dressing 
skins. 

The first dam was erected and the trench dug to conduct the 
water by the rapids to his place of business. Not long after, 
Ezra Clapp, of Milton, by an arrangement with the owners, 
erected a corn-mill “ between the Neponset river and the road 
leading to Brush Hill,” on this same mill-privilege; securing 
also from the town of Milton the right to utilize the water of 
the Neponset. This right was granted by the town at the town¬ 
meeting, March 21, 1715, “ for the corn-mill erected by Ezra 
Clapp, about two years past at the request of some of the in¬ 
habitants of the town.” David Colsen sold all his interest to 
Jonathan Jackson, of Boston, a brazier by trade. 

In March, 1710, Mr. Jackson erected a slitting-mill on the 
premises and commenced the business of slitting iron, which 
was the first mill of the kind in the province. After a few years 
it was consumed by fire, and Mr. Jackson relinquished the 
enterprise. He died in 1786. 

The property on the Dorchester side was sold by the widow 
of Jackson and Edward, his son, in 1750, to John Robinson; 
from him it passed successively into the possession of Samuel 
Payson, Andrew Gillispie, Jonathan Payson, and Jonathan 
Davis, and in 1778 became the property of James Boies and 
Hugh McLean. When Boies & McLean made partition of their 
business, in 1790, this fell to McLean. Mr. McLean died in 
1799, and his widow, Agnes, sold it in 1809 to Edmund Tiles- 
ton and Mark Hollingsworth. 

The property on the Milton side continued in the Jackson 
family for twenty-eight years, when it was sold by Daniel 
Marsh, Samuel Sewall, and Thomas Cushing, the executors of 
Edward Jackson, son of Jonathan, to James Boies, March 9, 
1764, together with a piece of land situated as follows : — 

On the west side of the highway, adjoining the river, with a nailers shop 
and a house thereon, also one-half the dam west of the road, and all the 
rights which said Jackson had in the stream. 


James Boies built a paper-mill on the mill-site thus purchased, 
and conveyed to Richard Clark, June 29, 1765,— 


One half the mill, one acre & six rods of land adjacent thereto, and one- 
half of the stream; also the northerly half of the dwelling house in which 
he lived und six acres of pasture land hounded northerly on the ditch. 


FIRST THINGS. 


375 


In the mill thus erected Boies & Clark commenced the 
manufacture of paper. 

In 1769 Mr. Boies repaired the old Jackson Slitting-Mill, or 
erected a new one on the site of the Jackson mill, and also 
built a chocolate-mill. 

Nov 12. 1770 The old slitting mill is now in good repair, at which 
place good nail rods may he bought at 30s. per hundred; cash given for old 
iron at the slitting mills, Milton. — News Letter. 

Two years later Mr. Boies built a second paper-mill, and, 
July 4, 1771, conveyed one-half of the paper and chocolate 
mills on the south side of the trench, with six and a half acres 
of land, to Hugh McLean. 

Mr. Clark died in 1777 ; his son George sold his father’s half 
of the mill to Hugh McLean. 

Thus James Boies and Hugh McLean became equal owners 
in the two mills. When the partnership was dissolved and the 
property divided, in 1790, McLean took the mill on the north 
side of the trench, and Boies that on the south side. 

Jeremiah Smith Boies, the son of James, occupied the mill 
on the south side of the trench until the death of his father, in 
1796, and then by will became owner of the same. After a few 
years he leased it to Amasa Fuller. Fuller and George Bird 
carried on the business in company till 1803, when Capt. Henry 
Cox took the place of Bird. Fuller & Cox continued the 
manufacture of paper till 1807; then Mr. Cox left, and Fuller 
was alone till 1825. Richardson Fuller, son of Amasa, Benjamin 
F. Crehore, and Jarvis Fenno succeeded the elder Fuller. Two 
of this firm died within three years of commencing business, 
and, Oct. 17, 1828, the executors of Amasa Fuller sold the mill 
and property to Edmund Tileston and Mark Hollingsworth. 

McLean carried on the business in the mills on the north 
side of the trench until his death, in 1799. Capt. Cox hired 
the mill, and purchased the stock of the widow of McLean, and 
continued there three years, when he left to engage with Amasa 
Fuller in the mills on the south side. George Bird succeeded 
Cox in the McLean Mills, where he remained till the spring of 
1805. After Mr. Bird retired, Ebenezer Steadman and Joseph 
Randall took the mill for two years, when Steadman sold to 
John Savels. Randall and Savels carried on the business for 
about a year, and vacated the premises in consequence of its 
sale by Agnes McLean to Edmund Tileston and Mark Hollings¬ 
worth. 

Tileston and Hollingsworth thus came into possession of 


376 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


both, mills, which they proceeded to enlarge and remodel for 
the prosecution of this work on a larger scale. These mills are 
still occupied in the same industry, and are conducted by the 
same firm so favorably known in the paper business for the 
long period of eighty-five years; but instead of the fathers are 
the children and children’s children. 

PROGRESS. 

A glance at some of the difficulties that attended the manu¬ 
facture of paper in its crude beginnings and in the days of our 
fathers, compared with the immense production of our day, and 
the improved methods, skilled labor, and abundant facilities 
that now surround this branch of industry, will show very 
clearly the wonderful progress made in these intervening years. 

I copy the following quaint advertisement from the Boston 
“ News Letter ” of March 23, 1769 : — 

Advertisement. The Bell Cart will go through Boston before the end 
of next month, to collect Rags for the Paper Mills at Milton, when all peo¬ 
ple that will encourage the Paper Manufacture may dispose of them. 
They are taken in at Mr Caleb Davis’ Shop at the Fortification. Mr An¬ 
drew Gillespie’s near Dr Clark’s: Mr Andras Randal’s near Phillips’ 
Wharf: and Mr John Boris’s in Long Lane: Mr Frothingham’s in 
Charlestown, Mr Edson’s in Salem, Mr John Harris in Newbury, Mr 
Daniel Fowle’s in Portsmouth, and the Paper Mill at Milton. 

‘ ‘ Rags are beauties which concealed lie; 

Biit when in paper how it charms the eye! 

Pray save your rags new beauties to discover, 

For of paper truly every one’s a lover. 

By Pen and Press such knowledge is displayed 
As wouldn’t exist if Paper was not made; 

Wisdom of things mysterious, divine, 

Illustriously doth on Paper shine.” 

The above method of gathering and furnishing stock for the 
paper-mill of James Boies in 1769 would hardly meet the de¬ 
mands of the Milton mills of Tileston & Hollingsworth in 
1886. 


SCARCITY OF PAPER-MAKERS. 

Our early manufacturers were largely dependent on English 
artisans for skilled work in certain lines of production, as but few 
in this country had been trained to the work required. This 
was especially true in the manufacture of paper. Not unfre- 
quently the early mills were forced to stop work from want of 
paper-makers. Illustrative of this, a petition found in the Pub¬ 
lic Archives, Lib. 180, Fol. 18, is here presented: — 




FIRST THINGS. 


377 


To the Honorable the Congress of the Province of the Massachusetts 
Bay asembled at Watertown, the petition of James Boise and Hugh Mc¬ 
Lean of Milton humbly sheweth. 

That your petitioners carry on the business of manufacturing paper at 
Milton, which has, been deemed of great utility to the Public, that John 
Slater, James Calder, William Durant and William Pierce now inlisted in 
the Provincial Service were all of them apprentices of y e petitioners, and 
have attained to so great a knowledge in the art of paper making that their 
attendance in the business is absolutely necessary to its being carried on. 
That they have done the principle part of the work and labor at your peti¬ 
tioners Mills, for two years past; and unless they are released from the 
service they are now in, tis impossible for your petitioners to continue this 
so useful and necessary branch of American Industry. 

Wherfore your petitioners pray that the said John Slater, James Calder, 
William Durant and William Pierce, may be, by order of this Honorable 
Congress, dismissed as soon as may be, from the service of the Provincial 
Army. And y e petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray. 

May 15, 1775 James Boies 

Hugh McLean 

In Provincial Congress, May 16, 1775. 

Resolved—that the prayer of the within petition—Be so far granted, that 
considering the small number of persons within the Colony who carry on 
the manufactory of paper, and the great Demand and Necessity of that ar¬ 
ticle for the use of said Colony, that the petitioners be desired to apply to 
General Thomas, that he may order the within named four soldiers to serve 
the public in carrying on the manufactory of paper at the said petitioners 
paper works at Milton. 


THE FIRST VIOLONCELLO. 

In the year 1798 Mr. Benjamin Crehore, who was born in 
Milton, and always lived here, whose place of business was at 
the village, opposite the paint-shop of Mr. Chapman, was 
engaged, by the proprietors of Federal-street theatre to assist 
in getting up the machinery and appliances of the stage for the 
play of the “ Forty Thieves,” about to be introduced. 

The inventiveness and skill manifested in the nice adjustment 
and execution of the work intrusted to him were greatly 
admired by the managers, and brought his services into 
frequent demand. Peter von Hagen, the leader of the 
orchestra, applied to him to repair a broken bass-viol, greatly 
needed in the band, but laid aside as useless, no one being 
found to mend it. Mr. Crehore, though unused to the work, 
undertook the job, and the instrument came from his ingenious 
hands as good as new, and, in the judgment of the musicians, 
improved in tone. 

This resulted in his commencing the manufacture of bass- 
viols, which were the first made in this country , and were said 
to rival those imported. One of these instruments is now in 


378 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


the possession of Mr. John Preston, of Hyde Park, Mass., and 
doubtless many are still in existence. 

In the early part of the present century Dea. Nathan C. 
Martin, for many years postmaster of Milton, a good singer 
and musician, was on a visit at Thomastown, Me. Being there 
on the Sabbath, he was invited to take a seat with the choir. 
Before the service he was trying the big bass-viol, and remarked 
that the tone was excellent. “ Yes,” replied the man who 
played the instrument, “ we value it very highly, both on 
account of its fine tone and of its great antiquity.” — “ Ah,” 
says Deacon Martin, “ an old instrument, is it? ” — “ Yes,” said 
the player, “ a very old instrument; we do not know exactly 
how old, but it is something more than two hundred years old.” 
This led the deacon, always on the alert for antiquities, to look 
it over carefully, when, on gazing through the opening in the 
front, he read on a paper pasted within : — 


BEN. CREHORE, MAKER, MILTON. 


THE FIRST PIAHO—FORTE. 

Mr. Crehore’s reputation in the musical world, arising from 
the successful _ treatment of the bass-viol, caused all sorts of 
disabled musical instruments to flow into his Milton shop for 
repairs. Among these was a piano-forte. With his usual 
patience and dexterity he attacked the instrument, analyzed its 
parts, mastered its mechanism and movements, and entered 
upon its manufacture. 

The first piano-forte made in this country was manufactured by 
Benjamin Crehore , in his Milton shop , A .I). 1800. 

From this small beginning sprang one of the largest and most 
successful piano manufactories now doing, business in America! 

Lewis Babcock, a Milton boy, was with Mr. Crehore as an 
apprentice. William and Adam Bent were also in his employ. 
They continued the business in Milton for a few years, when 
the genius of Crehore aspired after some new enterprise. 

In 1811 Lewis Babcock started the manufacture of pianos on 
Washington street, Boston, in connection with William Bent. 
Bent left Boston and went to Philadelphia. Babcock then took 
in Thomas Appleton, and his younger brother, Alpheus Bab¬ 
cock, under the style of Babcock, Appleton, & Babcock. In 
the spring of 1812 Appleton & Babcock, of Boston, hired two 




FIRST THINGS. 


379 


large rooms in the house now owned and occupied by Lemuel 
W. Babcock, on Canton avenue, Milton, for the purpose of using 
them as a workshop for making pianos. Before this they had 
occupied rooms near or over the Marlborough House, but as the 
building was to be repaired or taken down, and no place being 
found in Boston, they came to Milton while a building was 
being erected for them on Milk street, near the corner of 
Washington. The pianos made in Milton were taken to 
Boston to receive finishing and tuning, and were kept there on 
sale. The work of finishing and tuning was done by Alpheus 
Babcock. 

In Jan., 1814, Lewis Babcock died, at the house of his father 
in Milton, at the age of thirty-eight years. 

The whole business was then removed to Boston, when 
Charles and Edna Hayt were taken into the firm. In 1817 the 
company failed, and Alpheus Babcock went to Philadelphia. 

Capt. John Mackey, of Weston, Mass., a master mariner, on a 
return voyage from Marseilles, was induced to bring to this 
country a Frenchman, who had been a piano-manufacturer ; and, 
becoming deeply interested in the man for his benefit he took 
up the suspended business at the old stand on Milk street, 
employing Joshua Stephens as foreman, who had been in the 
employ of Hayt, Babcock, & Appleton. 

On the death of Stephens, Alpheus Babcock returned from 
Philadelphia, and entered upon the charge of the business for 
Capt. Mackey. In 1829 Mackey removed to the upper story 
of Parkman’s Market, on Cambridge street, while Babcock was 
still foreman. 

Jonas Chickering came to Boston in 1818, and worked at 
cabinet-making with James Parker, on Milk street. In 1822 
he was working on pianos with John Osborn, who learned the 
business of Hayt, Babcock, & Appleton. Capt. Mackey moved 
to Washington street, when Chickering & Mackey joined in 
the manufacture and sale of pianos. 

About this time Alpheus Babcock left Boston to enter the 
employ of John G. Clem, Philadelphia; while there he 
received a diploma for the manufacture of the best piano made 
in America. He was soon recalled to the service of his former 
employers, and continued with the firm until the time of his 
death, which occurred in 1842. 

He was a man of much inventive talent, constantly inventing 
and introducing improvements in all parts of the instrument; 
for many years before his death he had a private room, to which 
no one was admitted, where he conducted his . experiments; 
doubtless his patient study and mechanical ingenuity and skill 


380 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


did much to establish the early reputation which Chickering’s 
pianos have so long sustained. 

Three men have died, within about twenty years, who com¬ 
menced with Appleton & Babcock before the business was 
moved to Milton, in 1812, and continued in the same establish¬ 
ment, through all changes of proprietors, till age and infirmity 
compelled them to give up labor. Their names are Adam 
Bent, of South Boston ; Samuel Payson, of Roxbury; and Joshua 
Stone, father of Miss Anna Stone, so long and favorably known 
to the musical public of Boston. It is not improbable that 
descendants of these men may be still in the employ of the 
great Chickering establishment at Boston. 

THE FIRST ARTIFICIAL SPRING LEG. 

At the close of the war of 1812 a young man from the South 
(it is believed from Maryland), by the name of Dean Wey¬ 
mouth, who had lost his left leg in the service of his country, 
came to Milton for the purpose of obtaining an education 
especially suited to the new conditions of life appointed him 
by the fortunes of war. 

He secured a home with the family of James Read, in the 
house opposite the Pound, under the “ Big Oak,” entered Mil- 
ton Academy, then under the charge of Rev. Warren Pierce, 
and, by zealous attention to his studies, gentlemanly bearing, 
and a charming suavity of manners, won the esteem of his 
teachers, fellow-students, and the citizens generally. 

Our benevolent and inventive citizen, Benjamin Crehore, 
wishing to befriend the young man, and always eager for any 
new trial of his ingenuity and skill, conceived the idea of 
making a wooden leg for the soldier-student, with joints at the 
knee, at the ankle, and in the foot, suitably adjusted by 
straps and elastic force, so that it would act as an easy and 
comfortable substitute for the natural leg. He suggested his 
ideas to the soldier-student, and was met with a cordial and 
grateful response, with the confident assurance that the friends 
interested in his education would supply the money needful for 
the undertaking. Mr. Crehore commenced the work, and, after 
long labor and many modifications, succeeded in fitting out an 
artificial limb, which worked naturally and easily, so that it be¬ 
came a great prize to the student. 

Capt. Lewis Yose, a saddler by trade, and neighbor to Mr. 
Crehore, arranged and put in the needful straps, covering, and 
padding, to secure the leg in place and make it work with com¬ 
fort to the wearer. 






FIRST THINGS. 


381 


Mr. Weymouth used it for a long time; but, failing to obtain 
the money to pay for it, he was obliged, to give it up,, and it 
was retained by Mr. Crehore. 

There was much talk at the time of the ingenuity and value 
of the invention, and it was supposed to be the first experiment 
of the hind ever made in this country. 

Subsequently the leg disappeared from the place where it 
had been deposited, and its fate is unknown. It is supposed 
that it again passed into the possession of Mr. Weymouth. 

To confirm the claim to priority of invention in this case, a 
statement of the facts has been inserted among “Notes and 
Queries ” of the “ Boston Transcript.” A year has elapsed 
without response; meantime the claim holds good. 


THE FIUST R ATI T?,OAT). 

The first railroad in the United States was built by the Gran¬ 
ite Railway Company. The enterprise had its origin in 
the building of Bunker Hill Monument. The granite used in 
this structure was quarried in Quincy, at the Bunker Hill 
quarry, and worked at the sheds of the company situated in 
Milton. In March, 1826, the Legislature granted to Thomas 
H. Perkins and others a charter for the construction of a rail¬ 
road, and one of the reasons for the road set forth in the peti¬ 
tion was that it would greatly lessen the cost of the proposed 
monument by furnishing greater facilities for transporting the 
materials to be used in its construction. 

The building of this road gave to the granite business, then 
in its infancy, an impetus which lias constantly increased, until 
it has reached its present magnitude. The railroad was three 
and one-half miles in length, extending from the quarry to the 
Neponset river; about one-half of it was in Quincy, and the 
rest in Milton. It was commenced in May, 1826, and was 
opened in October of the same year. The gauge was five feet. 
The rails were pine, a foot deep, covered with an oak plate, and 
these with flat bars of iron. 


FIRST RAILROAD CAR. 

The first railroad cars made to carry stone on this road had 
each four wheels of nearly or quite eight feet in diameter. The 
axle-tree was arched in the centre, to give more space above the 
ground. The load was carried on a platform ten feet long by 


382 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


about four feet wide. This platform was placed on the track 
between the two rails, and the blocks of granite were rolled upon 
it by men with crowbars; then the car was run over the loaded 
platform, and four chains, running over grooved wheels attached 
to shafting at the top of the car, were hooked into eye-bolts at 
the corners of the platform, and these chains were wound upon 
the shaft by wheel or lever power, thus raising the platform and 
suspending the load between the wheels. The wheelwright 
and iron work required in the construction of these cars, and in 



other wonderful structures and work planned by Gridley Bry¬ 
ant, the energetic head of this company, was done by Willard 
Felt, whose shop was in the stone building at the corner of 
Adams and Squantum streets, now transformed into the pleas¬ 
ant residence of Mr. George W. Hall. 

The sketch of this car, in the illustration, is from plans by 
J. Wesley Martin. 

Great expectations were created among our early citizens 
from the building of this road in regard to the development and 
increase of the granite business, which have been fully realized. 
The following is the action of Milton with reference to it: — 





INDUSTRIES OF MILTON. 


383 


At a town meeting held April 3, 1826, Voted unanimously that the in¬ 
habitants of the Town of Milton most eordially consent that the Granite 
Railway Company should build their railway in the Town of Milton, so long 
as said corporation indemnifies and protects the town against charge, prose¬ 
cution, or damages caused by said railway’s crossing the public highways in 
said town, and no longer. And said town offers the corporation its best 
wishes for the success of the enterprise. 


SHIP—BUILDING. 

The business of ship-building commenced in Milton, on the 
Neponset river, at a very early date. Shallops of thirty or 
forty tons burden were built at, or near, the landing-place, 
now called Gulliver’s Creek, as early as 1640, and the business 
was continued there nearly up to the time of the establishment 
of the town. 

Enoch Badcock, the third son of George, who married Susan¬ 
nah Gregory, and died in Milton, 25th of May, 1695, was a ship¬ 
wright, and had his ship-yard on land of Joseph Belcher, at that 
point on the river where a landing-place had been established. 
The same ship-yard was occupied, a hundred years later, by the 
ship-builder Daniel Briggs. Here, or near by, Mr. Badcock 
also built his house, as appears from original documents now in 
the hands of the writer. 

August 10,1693, Rev. Joseph Belcher secured to Enoch Bad¬ 
cock, under bond of £200, a two years’ notice for removing his 
house, also stock and timber of his ship-yard. 

In the year 1693 Enoch Badcock built the ship “ Mary and 
Sarah,” for Thomas Cooper and William Harris, receiving for 
the same the sum of <£540 15s. 

William, the son of Enoch, was also a ship-carpenter, and 
doubtless took up the work of his father in the same local¬ 
ity. William, the second son of William, son of Enoch, was 
of the same trade with his father and grandfather; he lived 
in the house built by his father “near the river,” now called 
the “■ Stanley House.” 

In the year 1765 two vessels were built by Vose & Fenno; 
one, a schooner, launched May 8, the other, a brig, launched 
Oct. 29. 

Mr. Joseph Blake, a merchant of Boston, residing a part of 
the time in Milton, employed Mr. Daniel Briggs, of Pembroke, 
to build a vessel for him at the ship-yard in Milton, which was 
launched Oct. 26, 1786. This was the commencement of an 
extensive business in ship-building, continued by Mr. Briggs 
until 1815. 



384 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Sep. 30, 1788, Launched in Milton a large vessel built by Daniel Briggs 
for Ebenezer Wales, Esq., of Dorchester. 

In 1788 Mr. Briggs went to Germantown, Quincy, and built 
for the Canton trade the large ship “Massachusetts,” con¬ 
tracted for by Major Shaw and Elia Hayden, of Braintree. This 
was too large to be floated out of the river, and was, at that 
date, the largest merchant vessel ever launched in the country. 
He then returned to Milton and carried on the business at his 
yard, near the foot of Milton Hill, building first-class vessels 
for many years. 

Some of our citizens now living remember the “ Kanawah,” 
the “ Milton,” and the “ Jane,” and were present at their 
launching. Capt. Nat. Thomas, from Pembroke, who married 
Jennie, the daughter of Capt. Briggs, lived in the Briggs house 
on Milton Hill. He was commander of the “ Kanawah,” and 
also of the “ Milton; ” the “ Milton ” was caugflt in Neponset 
bridge on her way to Boston, and was got through with diffi¬ 
culty. This vessel, though built seventy-four years ago, is a 
New Bedford whale-ship, still afloat. 

1791. A large brig launched at Briggs. — S. Fierce. 

Captain Briggs was a man of large frame, stately and com¬ 
manding in person, also genial and benevolent in like degree. 
The following incident shows the humor of the man: On one oc¬ 
casion, when busy in his ship-yard, a stranger came up asking 
for work. “ What can you do ? ” inquired the captain. “ I 
am a ship-carpenter,” was the reply. “ Can you make a treenail 
on a rock without dulling your axe ? ” — “ Yes, sir.” — “ Well, 
here is your timber, and here is a sharp axe; let’s see you do 
it.” He went to work, finished the treenail, passed it to Mr. 
Briggs for inspection, and asked if that would do. Mr. Briggs, 
viewing the excellence of the work, assented, when the man 
raised his axe and struck a heavy blow upon the rock, breaking 
the edge and nearly ruining the tool.. 

“ What are you about ? ” exclaimed the excited captain. 
The workman replied, “ My master always taught me, when I 
had finished a job, to stick my axe in the block.” 

“ All right,” rejoined the mollified captain; “ throw off your 
coat and go to work.” 

Mr. Briggs died in Milton Aug. 11, 1825. He was a useful 
and excellent citizen, honored and respected by all. 

At the time of his death he owned the land on the east side 
of Milton Hill, between Adams street and the foot of the hill, 
from the Russell land to the old Kinsley estate, including the 


INDUSTRIES OF MILTON. 


385 


Peabody and the old Foy estates, except the Swift, now Tappan, 
lot. His daughter, Alice C., born in Milton April 2, 1802, 
married Capt. Charles Taylor, of Milton, April 28, 1833. She 
is still living at East Milton, at the advanced age of eighty-five 
years. 

Various other industries occupied the citizens of Milton in 
early times, most of which are referred to in the chapter on 
“ Old Houses, Cellars, and Landmarks.” 

TANNERIES. 

The tanning business has been here from the first settlement. 
It commenced before incorporation, with the Pitcher family, in 
the valley opposite the Unitarian Church. In the progress of 
years the business has been carried on at the following places : 
On the west side of Robbins street, near Pine-tree brook, by 
Ebenezer Tucker; in New State, by the Badcocks; at East 
Milton, by the Adams’s; and west of Mrs. White’s house, on 
Canton avenue, by Major Babcock. 

Also the wool and leather dressing or morocco business 
has been conducted as follows: by David Colson at Matta- 
pan in 1709; opposite the Billings Tavern, in the west part 
of the town, by Joseph Billings; on Canton avenue, and in 
the rear of Mr. Ruggles’ house, by Caleb Hobart; at the 
Landing-place, by General Whitney and Jabez Sumner; and 
near the junction of Brook road and Canton avenue, by 
William Davis, who was followed in the business by his son, 
Walter S. Davis; then George K. Gannett took it for a short 
time and sold to the present owners, by whom an extensive 
business is continued to this day. 

BAKERIES. 

This business has been extensively prosecuted in Milton from 
the earliest times. 

Samuel Tucker, who died in 1843, had a bakery near his 
house on Hillside street. It was also carried on by his son 
Joshua. This building was consumed by fire, Oct. 25, 1887. 

Artemas Kennedy established a bakery at the corner of Har- 
land and Hillside streets in 1820, where baking was continued 
for thirty-six years. 1 


1 A. Galenga, a well-known author now living in England, and an attache of the 
“ London Times,” was a teacher in Boston and Cambridge in the years 1836-1839. He 
wrote E. L. Pierce, Oct. 18, 1881: “ The name of Milton, Massachusetts, and the place 
itself were not unfamiliar to me, who, fifty years ago, greatly relished some biscuits or 
crackers bearing the inscription Kennedy's Milton, — an article now still, probably, enjoy¬ 
ing its former popularity.” 




386 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


The bakery of Nathaniel Tucker stood opposite the house of 
Charles L. Copeland. 

Capt. Tucker and Capt. Withington had a bakery on the south 
side of Randolph avenue, near its junction with Hillside street. 

At Algerine corner were the bakeries of Nathaniel Bent and 
Hezekiah Adams. 

Jason Kennedy established a bakery in the house of Deacon 
N. C. Martin, at Milton village, in 1842, and continued the busi¬ 
ness for two or three years, when he erected a bakery on the 
west side of Randolph avenue, just south of the estate of the 
late F. B. White; it is now converted into a dwelling-house. 
This bakery was carried on by Mr. Horatio Webster in 1844-5. 

There was a bakery in the building of S. W. Johnson, in the 
rear of his shoe-store, established 1847; Cox & Taverner occu¬ 
pied it for a time. It was relinquished after a few years. 

BAKERY OF BEKT & CO. 

The well-known bakery of Bent & Co. was established in 
1801, with a single oven, in the dwelling-house of Josiah Bent, 
its projector, occupying nearly its present location, where the 
old house of Mr. Bent still remains. Mr. Bent, the original 
proprietor, continued in the business until 1830, when Samuel 
Adams, who married a daughter of Mr. Bent, came from 
Chelmsford to Milton, and purchased the bakery and farm. In 
company with Samuel T. Bent, Mr. Adams carried on the 
bakery, with two ovens, until 1837, under the style of Bent & 
Co. From 1837 to 1871 Mr. Adams was the sole proprietor; 
meanwhile the business had greatly increased, and the products 
of the bakery had secured a wide and highly favorable reputa¬ 
tion. In 1871 Deacon Adams leased the bakery to Horatio 
Webster, Samuel T. Bent, John A. Shaw, William H. Balkam, 
and George A. Fletcher for the term of five years. • At the ex¬ 
piration of this period it was again leased to the same parties 
for a second term of five years, before the expiration of which 
Mr. Adams died, and by will devised the business to George A. 
Fletcher and Granville J. Young, who are the present propri¬ 
etors. This bakery, from* the small beginning of 1801, has 
grown into an extensive business; its goods, which have a 
world-wide notoriety, are called for in all parts of our land and 
in other lands. 

The manufacture here is confined to the article of crackers, 
and the specialty is the water-cracker, made first in this country 
by Josiah Bent. These are still made by hand, from choice 
selected flour, with the greatest care, and without regard to 


INDUSTRIES OF MILTON. 


387 


expense in every department of stock and labor, so that a 
uniformly good article is secured. 

The public understands that an article which has not changed 
for eighty-six years, except for the better, can be depended 
upon. As a result of this public confidence the business has 
doubled under the present owners. 

ICE. 

The business of cutting, storing, and delivering ice in Milton 
was started by John Myers, about 1853. Before this, John 
Collins, Jonathan Beals, Adolphus Kinsman, and other indi¬ 
viduals engaged in the business in a limited way. 

Mr. Myers erected two ice-houses on Balster’s brook or Trout 
brook, near its connection with Pine-Tree brook, where, for 
several years, he continued the sale and delivery of ice to the 
people of Milton. After a time, the demand increasing, he pur¬ 
chased a tract of land on Mattapan street, through which Pine- 
Tree brook runs, excavated a large pond, and put up three 
extensive buildings to meet the growing trade. From year to 
year the business was leased to individuals, and continued to 
increase till the decease of Mr. Myers, Feb. 23, 1878. 

It was retained in the Myers estate for about three years, and 
then sold to Mr. J. Frank Pope. A short time previous Jacob 
A. Turner, who had engaged in the trade in connection with 
John Tolman, and had been supplied with ice from the Myers 
establishment, made provision for his own supply of ice, by 
using the dam of “Aunt Sarah’s” brook, near the wool-works, 
at the junction of Brook road and Canton avenue, and building 
two ice-houses. 

In 1884 Messrs. Pope and Turner united their business under 
the style of Pope & Turner. At the present time they cut 
yearly six thousand five hundred tons of ice in the pond of Pope 
and four thousand five hundred tons in the pond of Turner. 
They employ twelve men, for six months of the year, and fifteen 
horses. In housing the ice they use steam, and require the ser¬ 
vices of one hundred men in both places, securing one thousand 
tons daily. They use in their retail business twenty-five or 
thirty tons daily, during the hot season; about two-thirds of 
which goes to supply Dorchester trade. Two thousand tons are 
sold at wholesale. 

In 1885 Walter T. Cook, of Scott’s Woods, started the busi¬ 
ness on Hillside street, securing an overflow near the Blue 
Hills, which is supplied from the mountain rivulets. 

He has three houses, with a storing capacity of three thousand 


388 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


tons, and a growing demand for Iris mountain ice, which will 
soon make a larger supply needful. In the season of 1886 
four double teams were employed in the delivery of the ice 
through Milton and Dorchester. 

FLORICULTURE. 

Nathaniel Davenport was the first man in Milton who made 
the cultivation of flowers and plants a special vocation. He 
commenced the business as early as 1827, and continued it for 
thirty years or more. At his decease the business was taken up 
by his sons. Lewis Davenport has been engaged in the work 
of raising flowers, in the westerly part of the town, for many 
years. His greenhouses are located on Canton avenue, in the 
vicinity of the old Davenport homestead. Nathaniel T. Daven¬ 
port is also actively engaged as a florist in the same neighbor¬ 
hood. Lyman Davenport, the youngest member of the family, 
has extensive greenhouses on Brush Hill road, near Paul’s 
bridge. These brothers have attained to great skill and success 
in this pleasant and lucrative employment. 

In 1860 John D. Bradlee built a greenhouse on Canton avenue, 
near the Lower Mills. After a time he sold to Lyman W. Senter, 
who erected new conservatories and largely increased the busi¬ 
ness ; here Mr. Senter was actively engaged as florist until 1875, 
the time of his death. Soon after his decease his conservatories 
passed into the hands of H. S. Messenger, who has increased the 
area of glass to five thousand square feet, and is enjoying a large 
degree of success in the delightful occupation of floriculture. 

Eight years ago Henry F. Thayer, long a skilful florist in 
Roxbury, removed to Milton, his old home, and engaged in 
floriculture on Hillside street, where he is raising flowers for the 
market with great success. 

In 1868 Duncan Welsh erected a greenhouse on Mattapan 
street, and continued the business of raising flowers till the time 
of his death. James Welsh succeeded his father, and carried 
on the business for one year; then it was taken up by William 
M. Robertson, who, in turn, was succeeded by George Saunders, 
the present owner. James Welsh has now, in the same vicinity, 
greenhouses of his own in successful operation. 

Not many years ago James Faulkner commenced the cultiva¬ 
tion of flowers, on Granite avenue. He has extensive green¬ 
houses, and is prosecuting the business on a liberal scale. 

In addition to the above there are in Milton fifteen or more 
private conservatories connected with estates on Milton Hill, 
and in every section of the town. 


GRANITE BUSINESS. 


389 


GRANITE BUSINESS. 

Quincy granite, so called, is in reality the kind of rock 
known to geologists as sienite. It is mostly confined to the 
territory of Quincy, yet there is a small part of the granite 
section within the territory of Milton. It is found lying on our 
extreme southern boundary, adjoining Quincy. It extends from 
a point a little west of the granite branch of the Old Colony 
Railroad to where the boundary of Milton approaches the 
Blue Hills; here the sienite gradually becomes merged into 
the porphyry of which the Blue Hills are largely composed. 

When the first attempts at working this material were made 
it is now impossible to tell, as the movement was on so small 
a scale as not to become a matter of town-meeting discussion 
and of town record, which was often the case in the neighboring 
town of Quincy, where it was feared the material would be so 
reduced as to render it impossible to procure a sufficient quan¬ 
tity for the ordinary purposes of building cellars, stoning wells, 
etc. 

This was before the use of wedges and gunpowder, which 
have been so largely used since that time in this branch of 
industry. It appears that wedges were never used in this part 
of the country for splitting stone until the year 1803. 

The wedge first used was of a kind very different from that 
in use to-day. It was broad and thin. The hole made to 
receive this wedge was from one and one-half inches to two 
inches long, by about two inches wide and one-half an inch 
thick. The holes were made broad enough and deep enough to 
receive the wedges, which were inserted between pieces of thin 
iron, called shims, and driven in by a heavy hammer. These 
were wholly unlike the round drill-hole which is in use to-day. 

A person in traversing the rocky woodland in the southeasterly 
part of Milton will occasionally come upon a place where one 
of our forefathers tried his skill, and patience, too, in the attempt 
to get out some underpinning and steps, and perhaps a few gate¬ 
posts. When these attempts were made is not known, as there 
is no record of the transactions, and the actors have long since 
passed away. But we are enabled to estimate pretty closely the 
date of these first operations by the style of the drill-holes 
which are to be seen in these rocks. 

We know that the flat hole was soon superseded by the round 
one, and where the flat hole is found we may conclude that the 
work was done very early in the present century. 

One of these old quarries, and one of the most important of 


390 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


them, may be seen in the land of Mr. Henry J. Rice, not far 
from his quarry. 

In the lack of proper means for breaking the solid ledge, the 
early workers were obliged to content themselves with using 
only such stones as laid loose on the surface of the ground; and 
having none of the modern contrivances for raising these stones, 
the difficult method of handling them with oxen and levers was 
their only resource. Even the “sheer-pole,” which was the 
first contrivance for this purpose, was often too expensive a 
luxury for these worthy pioneers to employ. The “ sheer-pole ” 
consisted of two long, heavy poles of equal length, bound firmly 


together at the upper ends, while the lower ends were drawn 
apart to make them stand steadily. They were held in an up¬ 
right position by guys front and back. A luff-tackle was fast¬ 
ened to the top where the poles were joined together, and 
brought down and attached to the body to be raised. To one 
end of the rope a pair of oxen was hitched, and in this way the 
work of raising stone was effected. This method, much easier 
than that of rolling them upon sticks of timber, by hand-power 
alone, was, nevertheless, extremely difficult and tedious in com¬ 
parison with the manner of doing such work at the present day, 
—with derricks capable of lifting thirty or forty tons, and some¬ 
times even much greater weights, worked with the greatest 
precision and safety by steam-power. 





GRANITE BUSINESS. 


391 


Previous to the year 1838 there was hut very little done in 
this town in the way of quarrying; but the development of this 
industry in the neighboring town of Quincy was the cause, and 
the only cause, that occasioned an increase of population in the 
eastern part of Milton. 

BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. 

The building of Bunker Hill Monument, and the consequent 
opening of the Granite Railway in 1826, was the dawn of a 
brighter day in that section of our town. The business activity 
and prosperity that followed is to be attributed in no small 
degree to that scientific and leading man, Mr. Soloman Willard. 

Although the stone for the monument was quarried in Quincy, 
the cutting of the stone was done almost wholly in Milton. 
Soon after opening the quarry the Granite Railway Company 
built sheds at the head of the wharf on the Neponset river; these 
sheds were mostly in Milton. About the same time a stone-shed 
was built in Milton a few rods north of the town line and just 
east of the railroad track, extending northerly several hundred 
feet. It was opposite the residence and store of the late George W. 
Tarbox. At these sheds all the stone-cutting was done by this 
company for the first thirty years of their operations. This 
statement is literally true, with this qualification : between 
183T and 1844 this company had a contract with the City of 
Boston by which the labor of their convicts in the House of 
Correction was sold to them and was used in cutting their 
granite. 

The business here gave employment to a large number of 
workmen until the close of the year 1835, when Mr. Gridley 
Bryant, the first agent of the company, and to whose energy and 
skill the prosecution of this branch of industry in this vicinity 
is largely due, was superseded by Mr. Samuel R. Johnson. 
After this date, until 1859, most of the stone-cutting was done 
at the sheds in East Milton Tillage. 

BOSTON CUSTOM-HOUSE. 

In the year 1834 the Granite Railway Company, in connection 
with other leading granite workers of Quincy, obtained the con¬ 
tract for furnishing the granite for the Custom-House in Boston. 
The ingenuity of Mr. Bryant was severely taxed in devising a 
method for transporting the vast columns of that building. He 
had already transported from Chelmsford to Boston the eight 
columns of the Quincy Market House and the two columns of 
the United States Bank building, now the Merchants’ National 


892 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Bank; and from Quincy the columns of the Tremont House 
and of the Suffolk County Court-House, the weight of the latter 
being sixty-four tons each; hut the Custom-House columns were 
somewhat more than thirty feet in length, and were said to be much 
heavier than had ever been carted in this part of the country. 

It was decided to move them in the winter, taking advantage 
of the snow, and for this purpose a sled was constructed. This 
sled was in two parts, very much like two mud-scows; the 
bottom was flat, and, being without runners, it rested fully on the 
ground. To prevent a side movement when in motion an iron 
keel, three or four inches square, was bolted on the bottom, 
which served a good purpose on deep and solid snow ; but where 
the snow was thin, and on bare ground, the friction was too 
much. On this sled about one-half of the columns were safely 
landed in Boston. The last time the sled was used they had 
proceeded on the way as far as the stable of Mr. John W. Brooks, 
Centre street, Milton, when bare ground was encountered, and the 
load could not be moved. The column was rolled from the sled, 
and the bottom was covered with hard-wood planks, to shut out 
the iron keel and prevent the great friction where the snow was 
thin ; then it was reloaded and a new start made. But this 
new arrangement proved a failure. Without the keel the load 
became unmanageable, and they had gone only to that point on 
Centre street where the brook runs under the street, when the 
load slued entirely from the road, and landed in the ditch, where 
it was allowed to remain until the next summer. Then the 
column, which was “ in the rough,” was cut and finished, and 
carried to Boston on a wagon made in the interval. This wagon, 
which took the rest of the columns to their place of destination, 
was a wonderful affair. The body was made of two pairs of 
heavy oak timbers, between thirty and forty feet long by about 
sixteen inches high, and seven inches wide; each pair was 
placed two feet and six inches apart, leaving room to allow a 
hind wheel to revolve between them. These timbers rested on 
the axle-trees, and were separated so as to give room for the load 
to be suspended between them. The two pairs of timbers were 
held together bjr a heavy beam at each end extending across the 
whole wagon, and to these each of the timbers was firmly 
bolted. To the cross-beams the load was attached by chains, 
and left to swing when in motion. It was the intention of the 
designer to have the load carried mainly by the hind wheels, 
and for this reason they were made exceedingly strong. Each 
of the hind wheels was made up of two wheels, each with a felly 
one foot wide and a diameter of nearly nine feet. On each of 
these were two tires of a large size. The two parts were placed 


GRANITE BUSINESS. 


together, making the felly two feet wide. They were then 
covered, in their whole width, by layers of oak timber about 
three by four inches, which were firmly spiked on. On 
these were shrunk four heavy iron tires, which held everything 
in place. The hub was of cast-iron, and the axle-trees were just 
long enough to pass through the hub and support one of the 
long timbers on each of its ends. The wheel could revolve on 
its axle-tree, or the axle could turn with the wheel. 

The forward wheels were much smaller, being low enough to 
run under the body, for convenience in turning. As such an 
enormous vehicle was too much for a pair of oxen to govern 
when in motion, a section of gear-wheel was attached to the 



forward axle-tree in such a manner that it could be revolved by 
means of a pinion and crank, so as to move the carriage in any 
desired direction. To draw this great load on so very heavy a 
carriage it was deemed best to use oxen, which were very gen¬ 
erally in use at that time among farmers. The result was that 
all the oxen available for several miles around were engaged 
for this purpose, making a team of fifty-five yoke of oxen, led by 
six horses. Henry West had charge of the transportation. 
The route followed in Milton was from Bryant street to Adams ; 
thence to Centre ; then crossing over White’s lane to Brook road, 
and by Mattapan street over the bridge into Dorchester. 

We give above an engraving of the wonderful structure, fur- 












394 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


nished from drawings by J. Wesley Martin, to whom we are 
indebted for the facts relating to the granite business. 

QUARRIES IN MILTON. 

In the year 1838 John Winkley worked a quarry for a short 
time on land of the late Samuel K. Bailey, a short distance 
south of the “ Bailey’s Farm.” Although the granite was of a 
good quality it was soon abandoned, and has never been worked 
since. About the year 1840 Mr. Samuel Alden opened a 
quarry a little farther to the west than Winkley’s place, on land 
of the late Col. Joseph Lyman. Alden’s operations were not 
extensive, nor of long continuance, and since his day there has 
been nothing done there. 

STONE-CUTTING. 

Several persons have carried on what is called stone-cutting, 
in years past, within the limits of the town, which gave employ¬ 
ment to a goodly number of workmen. One of the first of 
these was our townsman, Mr. Benjamin F. Dudley, who com¬ 
menced work with others about 1832. Their quarry was in West 
Quincy. Their work was, to a great extent, sent to cities on our 
seaboard south of Boston, and the transportation was by water. 
For this reason it was deemed best to do the cutting near the 
place of shipment. Their stone-sheds were at first on or near 
what was then known as Briggs’ wharf. After about three 
years they were removed to the quarry at West Quincy. 
Much of the time during these three years Mr. Dudley em¬ 
ployed as many as forty workmen at this place. While this 
work was progressing, Mr. Dudley and his associates were in¬ 
corporated as the Quincy Granite Co., under which style they 
continued to work until he retired from the granite business, in 
1850. 

While Mr. Dudley was engaged in the place above named 
Mr. Thomas Hollis, Jr., who succeeded his father, established a 
stone-shed very near Mr. Dudley’s, but after a short time the 
buildings were removed to his quarry, near the line of Quincy, 
and now owned by F. J. Fuller. 

The next attempt of the kind made in the town was by H. 
B. Martin & Co., in the year 1837. They began their work at 
the Lower Mills, on the town landing. At this time Mr. James 
Campbell was building the wharf now occupied by Mr. Godfrey. 
This was completed shortly after, and the stone-sheds were 
moved to the wharf in the fall of 1837, and remained until the 



GRANITE BUSINESS. 


895 


summer of 1840, when the business was brought to a close. At 
this place a large part of the granite for Harvard College 
Library building was prepared or cut. The quarry worked by 
H. B. Martin & Co. was on the land long known as the 
“ Quincy Lot,” owned by Mr. Josiah Quincy, then President 
of Harvard College. This may have assisted Martin & Co. in 
securing the contract with Harvard College to furnish the granite 
for this building. As the job was of some magnitude and the 
parties to the contract desired to finish the building as quickly 
as possible, Martin & Co. divided the work, giving Thomas 
Hollis, Jr., and O. T. Rogers & Co. each a part. 

In the spring of 1844 Hosea Flanders began the stone 
business at East Milton, nearly on the spot now used by Smith 
Brothers. It proved, however, of short duration, and before the 
year expired he had abandoned the undertaking. 

OTHER, MILTOH QUARRIES. 

In 1844 Mr. Thomas Hollis, Jr., began to work a quarry a 
short distance south of Pleasant street. He continued to work 
this until 1854, when he sold to Daniel G. Corliss and Oliver 
West. Mr. West soon left the concern, and Simon B. 
Corliss was admitted as a partner. This firm, afterwards 
known as D. G. Corliss & Co., continued the business without 
interruption until 1865, when they admitted into the company 
J. W. Martin. The partnership continued until the close 
of the year 1880, and w T as then dissolved, after an existence 
of nearly twenty-six years. In the spring of 1881 they 
sold their quarry to Messrs. H. J. Rice and Frank Tucker. 
At the end of one year Mr. Tucker conveyed his interest 
to Mr. Rice, since which time Mr. Rice has carried on 
the business. This is a part of the Quincy range. It is 
south and west of the dark-blue stone of which the quarries of 
the Granite Railway Company and F. J. Fuller are the best 
representatives. It lies between the dark-blue vein and the Blue 
Hills, and is of a lighter color, with a coarser grain. The feld¬ 
spar is often almost white, in large particles, having the 
appearance of albite or soda feldspar. The potash feldspar is 
sometimes light or pale blue, but oftener of a gray color. 
Occasionally the rock is marked by stripes of a lighter color, 
similar to marking seen in gneiss; though it does not resemble 
gneiss in any other respect, as it is wholly destitute of mica, 
while the hornblende is quite marked, being in rather large 
crystalline particles and of the blackness of jet. 

In the year 1861 Mr. E. Palmer began to work a quarry on 



396 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


land of Mr. L. W. Babcock, a short distance off Canton avenue, 
south of Mr. Babcock’s residence. He, however, soon sold out 
to Mr. W. H. Boardman, who, with his son, Edward P. Board- 
man, as partner, carried on the business for a period of five 
or six years; but, finding it less profitable than was desired, 
their business was brought to a close in 1866. Mr. George 
Crowd, late of this town, afterwards worked the quarry to 
some extent. A few years ago it passed into the possession of 
Mr. Henry A. Whitney, and has not been worked since. This 
granite is identical with Mr. Rice’s quarry in all its essential 
characteristics. 


STONE—CUTTING IN EAST MILTON. 

In the latter part of the year 1882 Messrs. W. A. & James 
G. Smith started the business of granite-cutting in East Milton 
village, under the style of Smith Brothers. The undertaking 
has proved successful, and promises to do much towards reviving 
the business in this part of the town. Their buildings are very 
near the location of the first stone-sheds built by the Granite 
Railway Company nearly sixty years ago. In the following year 
a company began work, in the same line, under the style of John 
E. Manhire & Co. Mr. Manhire soon transferred his interest 
to other parties, and it finally resulted in the present firm of 
Watson & Gallagher Brothers. Their place of business is a 
little off Bryant street, in the rear of what has, since 1834, been 
known as the Bryant House, which was burned down Decem¬ 
ber 26, 1883. 


PROMINENT EARLY MANUFACTURERS. 

Some of the projectors and chief agents in these business 
activities should not be passed without a brief notice. Am ong 
the most prominent were Jeremiah Smith, James Boies, Hugh 
McLean, Daniel Yose, and Jeremiah Smith Boies. 

JEREMIAH SMITH. 

Jeremiah Smith, James Boies, and Hugh McLean were not 
native-born citizens. They came to this country from the 
north of Ireland. They were intimately connected here in 
their business relations and by the ties of marriage. They 
were all members of the Presbyterian Church of Boston, under 
the pastorate of Rev. John Morehead; and they continued this 




PROMINENT EARLY MANUFACTURERS. 


39T 


close and intimate friendship through life, and their families 
after them. They were buried in Milton Cemetery. 

Mr. Smith was born in the north of Ireland in 1704. He 
came with his wife to Boston in 1726, and removed to Milton 
in 1736. He entered the employ of the Paper Company, and 
soon came into possession of the whole property. He was the 
first man, in a private capacity, to manufacture paper in this 
province. He was a neighbor and intimate friend of Governor 
Hutchinson, although differing from him widely in the political 
measures of the day. 

As agent of the Paper Company he became closely connected 
with Mr. Thomas Hancock, and was thus led to an intimate 
friendship with Gov. John Hancock, which continued through 
life. 

In January 1759 he was licensed to keep a house of public entertainment 
at his house near Milton bridge on the main county road to Plymouth & 
Taunton. One house near by kept by W m Badcock not able to entertain 
all the travel. — Public Archives, Vol. III., p. 423. 

Early in the spring of 1738 Mr. Smith and William Badcock, 
his neighbor at Milton village, went on board an emigrant ship 
from Ireland, lying at Long wharf in Boston, for the purpose 
of procuring for Mr. Badcock domestic help. There they pur¬ 
chased a quantity of potatoes. A part of these was planted 
by Mr. Badcock, and in the fall he came to Mr. Smith in trouble, 
having two bushels of potatoes from his planting and not 
knowing what to do with them. It is believed that these were 
the first potatoes planted in Milton. Mr. Smith died in Milton, 
April 16, 1790, aged eighty-six years, and was placed in the 
Daniel Vose tomb. 


JAMES BOIES. 

James Boies was born in Ireland. He married, as second 
wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Jeremiah Smith, in 1759. 

He was a man of good business capacity, and was among the 
first to develop the manufacture of paper at Mattapan. 

That he was a faithful citizen and an earnest patriot is 
manifest in his whole Milton life. He died here July 11, 1798, 
at the advanced age of ninety-six years. 

HUGH McLEAH. 

He married Agnes, daughter of James Boies. For a short 
time he was engaged in business at St. George, Me., now 
Thomaston, but did not make that town his place of residence, 



398 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


nor was his home there. After a few years he relinquished his 
business at St. George, and took up his residence in Milton, 
engaging with James Boies in paper-making, and here passed 
the remainder of his days. ■ He owned and occupied the 
Jackson house at Milton Upper Mills, on the west side of Blue 
Hill avenue, now owned by heirs of George Hollingsworth, 
where he continued to reside during his life. He died in Mil- 
ton, December, 1799, aged seventy-five years. 

DANIEL VOSE. 

Daniel Yose was born in Milton, Feb. 20, 1741. He was the 
oldest son of Capt. Thomas Yose, a leading man of his day, and 
active in the early wars. 

Daniel Yose married Rachel Smith, daughter of Jeremiah 
Smith, Nov. 11, 1762. Patience, the daughter of Daniel and 
Rachel Yose, married Dr. Amos Holbrook. Elizabeth, the 
daughter of Daniel and Rachel Yose, born Oct. 20, 1767, 
married, first, John Lillie; and, second, Edmund Baker, the 
father of Edmund J. Baker, of Dorchester. 

Col. Jesse Pierce married Elizabeth S. Lillie, the daughter of 
Elizabeth Yose and John Lillie; his sons are the Hon. Henry 
L. and Edward L. Pierce. 

Through the last half of the eighteenth century Daniel Yose 
was conspicuous in the civil and military affairs of the town. 
He was a sincere patriot, and rendered very important service 
to the country by his diligence and fidelity. He was a true 
friend and a genial host, entertaining with generous hospitality. 
His house was furnished handsomely for those days. Rich and 
valuable articles of his furniture are still in possession of Henry 
L. Pierce, among which are the “ Governor Shirley Bibles."’ 
Reference to the family silver is seen in the papers of the day. * 1 * * * * * 7 
Through his whole mature life Mr. Yose was, perhaps, the lead- 


1 STOP THIEE. 

Last night the house of the subscriber was broken open and the following articles were 
stolen, viz.: — 

i Large Silver Cup, holding a wine quart, 

i Silver Cream Pot, marked P. Y. 

1 Silver Pepper Box. 

2 Pair Silver Sugar Tongs, one new, the other old fashioned. 

7 Large Silver Table spoons. 

i Dozen large tea spoons, beaded round the handle, not marked — maker’s name, 
Caleb Beale. 

7 Small Tea Spoons, marked R S. 

A quantity of small change, among which were about 150 Birmingham coppers. 
Whoever will apprehend the thief, or thieves, so that they may be brought to justice, 
shall be handsomely rewarded by 

DANIEL VOSE. 

Milton, July 10, 1787. 

[“ Columbian Sentinel.”] 







398 


HISTORY 


MILTON. 


nor was ] • 

business •• ( 
engaging 
the rem; 

Jackson 
Hill ave 
where Ik 
ton, Dec 


Danie: 
oldest sc 
active in 
Danie 

11, 1762. Patieri 
, married Dr. Arnos Holbrook 
Daniel and Rachel \ Osc, i 
, John Lillie: <jnd. second, Jjkl 
und J. Baker, of Dorchester. 
Pierce married Elizabeth S. Lillh 
^e and John Lillie; his sons ar< 


Smith, Is 
Rachel V 
daughte 
married, 
father o 
Col. J 
Elizabet 
L. and 1 
Thror 
was con 
He was 
to the 
friend a , 
His hoi 
valuabl 
L. Piei 
Referer; • i 
Throug 


He was the 
f his day, and 

of Jeremiah 
t Daniel and 
lizabetb, the 
'< t. 2* . 1767, 

' Baker, the 


. the daug 
the, Hon. 


: li; 


of 


his 


he eighteenth century Daniel Vose 
and military affairs of the town, 
d rendered very important service 
nee and fidelity.. He was a true 
al host, entertaining with generous hospitalitv. 
rnished handsomely for those days. Rich and 
of his furniture are still in possession of Henrv 
? which are the “Governor Shirk w Bibles.” 

1 family silver is seen in the papers of the day. 1 
h* mature life Mr. \ ose was, perhaps, the lead- 


7 Large Sih r r j 
i Doz 
Caleb Be; 

7 Small Tea Spot : 

A qua 
VVhoe 
shall be h 

Mil. to x, ul\ 

















' 





PROMINENT EARLY MANUFACTURERS. 


399 


ing business man in Milton. He carried on a large and varied 
trade, and was the medium of exchange for the producers of 
this town and of many interior towns. In this way he furnished 
occupation to many citizens and families of Milton dependent 
on their labor for a subsistence. 

When Norfolk County was about to be set off, a great effort 
was made to establish the county buildings in Milton. Mr. 
Yose, then owning the land at the corner of Adams street and 
Churchill’s lane, where the mansion of Mr. J. Murray Forbes 
now stands, offered to give the same for a court-house and jail. 

JEREMIAH SMITH BOIES. 

He was the son of Capt. James Boies, born in Milton, 1762, 
and married Miss Clark. He graduated at Harvard, 1783. He 
was early engaged in manufactures at the Dorchester side of 
the river. About 1795 he built a dam where the starch-factory 
now stands, and erected a paper, chocolate, and corn mill, 
employing Mark Hollingsworth, a young man from New Jersey, 
as foreman of the paper-mill. In 1801 he gave up the business 
to Mark Hollingsworth and Edmund Tileston, who had been in 
the paper business at Needham. 

At the decease of his father Mr. Boies came into possession 
of the paper-mill in Milton, which he improved for a few years. 
He built the mansion on Mattapan street, Milton, now owned 
by the heirs of the Hon. Arthur W. Austin. He was one of the 
trustees of Milton Academy at the opening of the institution; 
for many years was treasurer of the board of trustees. He 
filled several offices of trust in the town, and was active and 
useful in all educational and religious interests during his resi¬ 
dence here. 

Mr. Boies finally sold out his interest in the mills and 
removed to Boston, where he became an alderman of the city, 
and died in 1851. 


JOHN M C LEAH. 

John McLean was bom in Milton in 1761. His father was 
engaged in business at St. George. His mother went there in a 
sloop from Boston, and, arriving in the afternoon, went ashore 
and remained until the vessel was ready to sail on her return 
voyage, when, being discontented, she returned in the sloop to 
Boston. She may have gone to her father’s, who lived on the 
Milton side of the river in the old house 3iear the mill, the 
northerly half of which he conveyed to Bichard Clark in 1765 ; 
but the tradition is that she went to the house of her kindred, 


400 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Jeremiah Smith, who lived at Milton Lower Mills, in the first 
house below the bridge. From the intimate relations ever ex¬ 
isting between the Smith and McLean families, it is highly 
probable that she made the family of Mr. Smith her home, and 
that John McLean was born in his house. 

The statement is made by President Quincy, in his “ History 
of Harvard College,” that John McLean was born in St. 
George. This is surely an error, as Mrs. McLean never lived 
at St. George, and was only there while the sloop was unlading 
and taking in her cargo of wood and lime. The place of his 
birth was Milton. This is confirmed by a tradition that cannot 
be doubted, coming directly through living witnesses from per¬ 
sons who were in intimate connection with the McLean and 
Boies families. 

John McLean lived with his father, at Milton, in the Jackson 
house, through all his early life, until he went to Boston to en¬ 
gage In business there, and then passed more or less of his time in 
the summer with his mother at the Milton home. He married 
Ann Amory, of the highly respectable Amory family of Boston. 
In the latter part of the last century he was unfortunate, and 
failed in business, caused by an adverse decree of the French 
Council. A few years subsequently he gave a supper at the 
Exchange Coffee House in Boston, inviting all of his old credit¬ 
ors ; when they assembled at the table every man found under 
his plate a check covering the amount of his claim, principal 
and interest. He was a man of handsome countenance and 
commanding figure, social and genial in his nature. 

For many years he was a victim of the. gout to such an 
extent that he was unable to walk in the streets of Boston, and 
seldom appeared abroad except in his carriage. 

At the opening of the war of 1812 he entered the Boston 
market, and bought up all the molasses that could be pur¬ 
chased ; and, on the rise of this article, he realized a large per¬ 
centage of profit. It is reported that he cleared $100,000 out 
of this venture. 

In his will he made the Massachusetts General Hospital his 
residuary legatee. When the Massachusetts General Hospital 
was incorporated the State gave $100,000 to endow it, with 
the proviso that it might take the name of any donor who 
should give a larger sum. The result proved that Mr. McLean’s 
legacy not only reached $100,000, but far exceeded that sum. 
Nevertheless, instead of affixing his name to the Massachusetts 
General Hospital, they named the institution for the insane at 
“Barrel’s Farm ” the “ McLean Asylum for the Insane.” 

His bequests to Harvard College have realized to that insti- 




PROMINENT EARLY MANUFACTURERS. 


401 


tution, up to January, 1886, the sum of $43,062.93. His private 
legacies were large and numerous; among which was a legacy 
of $2,000 to the minister and deacons of the First Church, Mil- 
ton, for the poor, the income of which is annually distributed; 
and the same amount to the Federal-street Church, Boston, for 
the same purpose. 

Along one of our public streets, now called Blue Hill avenue, 
is seen a line of milestones bearing this inscription, “ J. 
M°Lean 1823.” These were erected, at his request, by Mr. 
Isaac Davenport, his partner in business; and, as Mr. McLean 
died before the work was completed, his name was placed on 
these way-marks by Mr. Davenport’s order, thus converting 
them into monumental stones. 

But the most enduring monument of this noble man is seen 
in the institutions he has helped to found and endow, revealing 
the manifest purpose of contributing to mental enlargement in 
generations to come, and of relieving human suffering in its 
most aggravated forms. 





402 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


CHAPTER XIII. 

MILITARY RECORD. 

KINO PHILIP’S WAR. 

O UR fathers were not long left to the undisturbed cultiva¬ 
tion of their lands and the quiet enjoyment of their 
homes under the new administration of municipal affairs. 

In the very infancy of the town rumors of Indian intrigues 
and hostilities filled the air. 

A few years before the incorporation of Milton the Neponset 
Indians had been removed from Milton Village to their reserva¬ 
tion at Ponkapog. They were under the command of Quarter¬ 
master Swift, of Milton, a wise and judicious leader, and by his 
management were kept from contact with the hostile Indians, 
and remained friendly during the war. In the fall of 1675 they 
were sent to Long Island, in Boston Harbor, for safety, and in 
the following spring were remanded to their planting-grounds, 
at Brush Hill, as near as possible to the English fort. The con¬ 
dition of Milton at this time appears from the following paper 
found in the State Archives : — 


Milton Military Commission. 

The Council, taking into their consideration the unsettled and weak 
state of the Town of Milton, being destitute of a sufficient and full Com¬ 
mittee of Militia for the management of affairs in this time of Public 
Danger. They do order and appoint Captain Samuel Wadsworth Srgt. 
Robert Badcock and those that are the present Select Men to be a Committee 
of Militia for that Town, they or any three of them Capt Wadsworth or 
Sargt. Badcock being one of them, to act with full power in all cases until 
the Council take farther action. 

Dated Boston y e 11 th of Feb. 1675 

Passed by the Council 

E. R. S. 

This was soon followed by a second order from the Council: — 

Feb. 21. 1675. In answer to a peticon of generall inhabitants of 
Milton, it is ordered that all the inhabitants of Milton not in publicque ser¬ 
vice be required to attend their duty in that Town, perfecting the fortifica- 




KING PHILIP'S WAR. 


403 


tions that are appointed by the Committees of Militia there, & y* no person 
fitt for the diffence of the place to w th draw themselves w th out liberty from 
this Court or the Council first obteyned on poenalty of such suffering pun¬ 
ishment as souldyers are liable unto that w th draw from their coul r s. 

HOSTILE DEVELOPMENTS. 

In the spring of 1621 a treaty of commerce, friendship, and 
mutual defence had been made between the English and Massa- 
soit, the Great Sachem of the Wampanoags. During life he 
remained a faithful ally of the English. His influence with the 
Indian tribes kept them peaceful and quiet amid many causes 
for discontent. But Massasoit had passed away, and his power 
was no longer felt; his people grew more and more suspicious 
and uneasy. The progress of fifty years had wrought a great 
change in their condition. The new race from over the great 
water had multiplied, and was usurping their lands, and forcing 
them away from their homes and the graves of their fathers. 
Philip, the successor of Massasoit, renouncing the friendly 
policy of his ancestor, bent all his powers to fan the flame of 
hostility and excitement. He was a wily and ambitious leader. 
By secret and adroit management he united most of the New 
England Indians against the English, and prepared them for 
that barbarous warfare which for fourteen months spread over 
the settlements, until there was scarcely a family in the Massa¬ 
chusetts or Plymouth colonies but had lost a father, brother, 
or son. 

The sacrifice of property between June, 1675, and September, 
1676, has been estimated at not less than $500,000, which, com¬ 
pared with the population and wealth of the times, was greater 
than that in the eight years’ struggle for independence. 

The inhabitants of Milton capable of bearing arms were 
actively engaged in this conflict. Some were in the company 
of Capt. Samuel Wadsworth, of Milton, and others under Capt. 
Robinson, of Roxbury. But our records are meagre, and centre 
on those who were conspicuous as leaders or sufferers. 

OPENING OF HOSTILITIES. 

King Philip’s war broke out on the 24th of June, 1675, at 
Swansey, near Mount Hope, the home of Philip. The people 
were surprised by an attack from the Indians as they were re¬ 
turning from public worship on a day set apart for humiliation 
and prayer, under the apprehensions of an approaching war. 

Thereupon the insidious foe appeared in every quarter, and 
no one could tell where the tomahawk and scalping-knife would 
find the next victim. Consternation spread over New England. 



404 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


BROOKFIELD MASSACRE. 

Capt. Edward. Hutchinson, the eldest son of William Hutch¬ 
inson, early proprietor of East Milton, who had a farm and 
country seat at Marlborough, and was on friendly terms with the 
Nipmuck Indians, was sent with a detachment of horse to 
Quaboag, or Brookfield, to negotiate with that tribe, and pre¬ 
vent, if possible, their union with the hostile Indians. 

With a portion of his command he met the chiefs Monday 
morning, August 2, at the place arranged for a parley, when a 
body of Indians, concealed near by, fired upon them, killed eight 
of the company, and burned the village. Capt. Hutchinson, 
who was wounded, was conveyed to Marlborough, where he died 
August 19. 

This act of treachery decided the character of the war, and 
thoroughly aroused the people. Just before the outbreak at 
Swansey, Quartermaster Swift, of Milton, was summoned with 
his corps of Indians to that place. 

Boston 29-5-1675 
Corporal Thomas Swift, Milton. 

You are ordered and commanded by the council to take with you ye 
Indian Soldiers and to convey them with as much expedition as you can to 
the Commander of the public forces at Swanzy or elsewhere upon the 
public service. If you meet with any Indians, you are to take them under 
your command, and if they refuse to submit, or to give you a satisfactory 
report, you are to sieze and kill and destroy them as public enimies 

[State Archives.] 

PONKAPOG INDIANS IN MILTON. 

It is manifest from various statements that the Ponkapog 
Indians, during the excitement of the war, were drawn from 
their quarters at Ponkapog to a position near Brush Hill, 
within reach of the fortification there. Major Gookin speaks of 
them as “near Brush Hill in Milton.” They were “removed 
from Long Island to Brush Hill.” A document in the State 
Archives says, “ They were embodied together and encamped at 
Brush Hill, in or near the precincts of Milton.” Corporal Swift 
took his detachment of Indians to Swansey, transferred them 
“ to the commander of the public forces ” there, then returned 
to his charge at Milton, and three months later he is again called 
upon for Indian troops as follows : — 

These for Corporal Swift of Milton. 

The Council by their order sent me last night required me to endeavour 
to raise 100 Indian Soldiers, armed fitted and furnished [though I fear that 



KING PHILIP’S WAR. 


405 


number is not to be had] yet I would endeavour to get as many as we can; 
to this end I have sent for them to other places where at present they 
reside. And also have sent these to you desiring & ordering you with the 
assistance of the provincial Indians to lyst as many as you can of the Pake- 
mitt Indians y l are under y er care and order them to be in readiness at an 
hours warning to march to such place as shall be appointed, to be provided 
with what is necessary, and so to attend the public service. I know not 
where they are to go, but I judge to Penakooke or y* way together w h 
English men as many as they. I pray send me a lyst of y e names & num¬ 
bers y* are to be had & also when they come to y e rendervoix &c-I pray 

fail not in the execution of this matter. 

So I remain your loving friend, 

20 August 1675. Daniel Gookin, Sen. 

[State Archives.] 


The above order is thus superscribed: — 

These for Corporal Swift of Milton with care & speed. 

Hast post — Hast for the service of y e Colony ! 

To be sent from Constable to Constable, 

by order Daniel Gookin Sen. 

From this time the work of destruction was rapid and direful. 
One town after another was sacked and burned. In September, 
Brookfield, Hadley, Northfield, and Deerfield were ravaged, and 
three of them laid in ashes. October 5th three hundred savages 
fell upon Springfield, killing and wounding many of the people, 
and reducing to ashes thirty dwelling-houses and twenty barns. 

SWAMP FIGHT. 

The progress of desolation was a little checked by the aggres¬ 
sive movements of the colonists. 

In the early winter of 1675 occurred the celebrated expedition 
against the Narragansetts, a powerful tribe, whose apparent 
sympathy with Philip created serious apprehension, notwith¬ 
standing a previous treaty of friendship with the English. The 
United Colonies determined to forestall hostilities from this 
quarter; and, to make sure work, a corps of a thousand men, 
the largest army the country had ever seen, was at once raised. 

The whole campaign was conducted with the greatest wisdom, 
energy, and despatch, under the charge of Governor Winslow. 

His army advanced, by rapid marches, straight to the strong¬ 
hold of the Indians in the Narragansett country, Rhode Island, 
and suddenly fell upon the savages with such desperate valor 
that only a small portion of them escaped. In addition to the 
carnage caused by musket, bayonet, and sword, the match was 
applied to the combustible material within the palisade, and a 


406 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


conflagration spread with, terrible fury, consuming not only the 
wigwams, hut many of the unfortunate inmates who had escaped 
the slaughter. It was not unlike the punishment inflicted on 
the Pequods forty years before by Capt. Mason, of Connecticut. 
Seven hundred of their fighting men fell on that day. The 
prestige and power of the Narragansett nation were broken. 

In this fight, which occurred December 19 (O. S.), and is 
known in history as the “ Swamp Fight,” was the company of 
Capt. Johnson, of Roxbury, in which many Dorchester men 
were enrolled, and the following men from Milton : Obadiah 
Wheaton, Joseph Tucker, John Fenno, and Benjamin Crane. 
Capt. Johnson was killed, also Thomas Danforth, of Dorchester. 
Benjamin Crane, was wounded. Nathaniel Davenport, hus¬ 
band of Elizabeth, the sister of Rev. Peter Thacher, of Milton, 
was killed. 

The Indians, checked for a time, were soon on the war-path 
again. In February, 1676, Lancaster, Medfield, and Weymouth 
were invaded and partly burned; in March, Groton and Marl¬ 
borough met the same fate. All the frontier settlements, and 
many of the interior towns, were deserted, the inhabitants taking 
refuge in places less exposed, near Boston. Milton, at this time, 
received several accessions. Rev. Samuel Man came from 
Wrentham, Roger Sumner and Ralph Houghton, from Lancas¬ 
ter, and Edward Adams, from Medfield. William Pierce, of 
East Milton, was also driven here by the exigencies of the war. 
All of these, except Mr. Man, remained as permanent citizens, 
and their descendants still continue with us. The outlying dis¬ 
tricts, even in Milton, were deemed unsafe. William Trescott, 
who lived on the farm of James M. Robbins, asked for the 
“abatement of his taxes for the year 1675-76, because of the 
troubles of the wars, whereby he deserted his place at Brush 
Hill.” 


SUDBURY FIGHT. 

But the event of this war, which connects it particularly with 
our own history, is now to be described. 

Capt. Samuel Wadsworth, who came to Milton from Dux- 
bury, in 1656, and took part in the incorporation of the town, 
in the formation of the church, and in all the arduous duties 
and labors incident to a new organization, was brought into a 
conspicuous and highly honorable, as well as sadly eventful, posi¬ 
tion in this war. He was captain of a company of infantry, 
raised in the vicinity of Boston and partly in Milton. His 
lieutenant was John Sharp, of Brookline, who married Martha, 
daughter of Robert Yose, of Milton; but of the rank and file I 



KING PHILIP'S WAR. 


407 


can discover no list. Capt. Wadsworth had been actively en¬ 
gaged in the war from the beginning. He was at Lancaster 1 
and vicinity through the February preceding, but in March re¬ 
turned to Boston to protect the lower towns. After the destruc¬ 
tion of Marlborough, which occurred on the 20th of March, the 
Indians increased greatly in that vicinity, endangering the lives 
of those who escaped in the former onslaught, and making it 
needful to strengthen the garrison there. Capt. Wadsworth was 
ordered to repair to Marlborough for this purpose. He started 
with a force of fifty men, which was probably increased to sev¬ 
enty on the march. The movement was effected with safety, 
he reaching Marlborough with his command in the night of the 
20th or the morning of the 21st of April. On the march through 
Sudbury the Indians were lying concealed in large numbers, 
but failed to show themselves until Capt. Wadsworth’s company 
had passed beyond. The next morning they commenced the de¬ 
vastation of the village, burning all the houses on the east side 
of the river. When the news of the attack reached Marlborough, 
Capt. Wadsworth, though his men were exhausted by the march 
from Boston, determined to hasten back to the relief of Sud¬ 
bury. Reinforced by Capt. Brocklebank, with a portion of his 
command from the fort, they marched with all possible speed to 
meet the enemy. On approaching Sudbury, “ in the afternoon of 
Friday the 21st, about 3 o’clock,” according to Sewall’s Diary, a 
band of Indians appeared in the distance, who seemed to be flying 
at their approach and striving to hide themselves ; the English 
pursued, and were drawn on by the retreating foe into a thickly 
wooded section, when suddenly five hundred savages sprang up 
on every side, and with their terrific war-whoop rushed upon 
the devoted band. The gallant leader and his heroic command 
defended themselves as best they could. Securing a strong-hold 
on a hill near by, for four hours they repelled the assaults of the 
foe with the loss of but five men, until ammunition began to 
fail, and night was closing in upon them. At this juncture the 
Indians set fire to the woods, and the wind drove the smoke and 
flames in upon the exhausted troops, compelling them to abandon 
their position. As a last resort they determined to force a pas¬ 
sage through the savage horde. In this final struggle they were 
beset on every side, with all the fury of fiends, and literally cut 
to pieces. Capt. Wadsworth and Capt. Brocklebank fell, with 
twenty-seven of their charge. Some escaped, and a few were 
taken prisoners; and, says Cotton Mather, regarding the prison¬ 
ers then taken: — 


1 Palfrey. 



408 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


That the reader may understand what it is to be taken by such devils 
incarnate, I shall here inform him ; they stripped their unhappy prisoners 
and caused them to run the gauntlet, and whipped them after a cruel and 
bloody manner; they then threw hot ashes upon them, and cutting off col- 
lops of flesh they put fire into the wounds, and so with exquisite leisurely 
horrible torments roasted them out of the world. 


The enemy were so elated by this victory that they sent word 
to the authorities of Boston to provide store of good cheer, for 
they intended to “ dine with them on election day.” 

The disaster was deeply felt throughout the country. It was 
a heavy blow to the town of Milton. Capt. Wadsworth, one of 
her leading men, in the prime of life, eminent for piety, wisdom, 
and courage, a protector and guardian of the infant town, was 
taken from his family and fellow-citizens, and with him doubt¬ 
less others of the same community. A glimpse of the despond¬ 
ency occasioned by the event is discerned in the tone of the 
petition of his Milton associate, presented to the Council only 
five days after his death : — 

Petition of Robert BadcocTc. 

To the honorable Council now sitting in Boston. The request of him 
whose hand is hereunto subscribed is that whereas the honored council 
pass d an order bearing date 11 Feb. 1675 for the settling of a Committee 
of Militia in the Town of Milton wherein were named Captain Wadsworth 
and myself and the present Select Men to be the sd. Committee, that the 
honored Council would be obliged to take into consideration the state of 
this Committee. Capt. Wadsworth having departed from us, whose face 
we shall see no more ; and one of the Select men having deserted the place, 
another of them seldom to be found in the town though not employed in 
public imploy: Corporal Swift being much employed in public service 
whereby matters of public concernment are hindered; and some of our 
militia officers who have been both faithful and painful by day and by 
night for the service of the country left out in the order, My humble request 
is that there be a renewing of this Committee, that matters that be of con¬ 
cernment may be carried on which now do stand still. Thus desiring the 
Lord to guide and direct you, I remain yours to command. 

Milton April 26. 1676— Rob t Badcock 


Capt. Wadsworth and twenty-eight of his command were 
buried in a common grave near the spot where the action 
occurred, about one mile south of the centre of the town of 
Sudbury. Rev. Benjamin Wadsworth, President of Harvard 
College, the fifth son of Capt. Wadsworth, erected a monument 
at the grave of these heroes about 1780. At a later period 
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts united with the town 
of Sudbury in erecting the granite monument now marking 
the sacred spot. It bears the following inscription: — 



FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS. 


409 


This monument is erected by tlie Commonwealth of Massachusetts and 
by the Town of Sudbury in grateful remembi’ance of the service and suffer¬ 
ings of the founders of the State, and especially in honor of Capt. S. 
Wadsworth of Milton Capt. Brocklebank of Rowley and Lieut. Sharp of 
Brookline and 26 others, men of their command, who fell near this spot on 
the 18 th of April [an error for the 21st of April], 1676 while defending the 
frontier settlements against the allied Indian forces of Philip of Poka- 
noket. —1852. 

From this time the influence and power of Philip began to 
wane. The Indians met with disaster and defeat in every quar¬ 
ter. On the 16th of August, 1676, the finishing blow was 
given to this terrible and bloody war by the death of Philip, 
who was pursued into a swamp near Mount Hope and killed 
by one of his own men. 

And here ended the aggressive and destructive power of the 
Indians in the colony, except as allied with the French in the 
French and Indian wars that followed. 

BRIGHTNESS. 

One occurrence, bright and beautiful, shines out as a sequence 
of this sad war. In March, 1677, when farms and workshops 
had been deserted through fear, and helpers were cut off, leav¬ 
ing families and communities homeless, reducing to poverty 
and even threatening with starvation many of the wanderers, 
a ship laden with provisions from Dublin, and provided with 
clothing and money from London, reached the port of Boston, 
supplying timely aid to four hundred and thirty-two gathered 
there, and ministering to the suffering ones in many other 
towns. 

And then the counterpart, one hundred and seventy-two 
years later, when the United States sloop-of-war “ Jamestown,” 
loaded with provisions, sailed from these shores, March 28, 
1847, to Ireland, commanded by our Capt. E. B. Forbes, on a 
return mission of humanity, furnishes material for profitable 
and thankful thought. 


FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS. 

Scarcely had King Philip’s war ceased when questions of 
vital importance between the colonies and the mother-country, 
which had long been in agitation, assumed new significance. 

Massachusetts had resisted the “ Navigation Acts,” and 
refused to acknowledge the authority of the king’s commis- 



410 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


sioners, to which Connecticut and Rhode Island yielded. Ac¬ 
cordingly, in 1684, her charter was declared void, which was 
speedily followed by the annulling of the charters in the other 
colonies. Then followed for more than two years the tyrannical 
government of Sir Edmund Andros, under King James II., 
until the revolution in England drove the king from his throne, 
when the people of Boston seized Andros and sent him to 
England for trial. William and Mary, the successors of James 
II., awarded to Massachusetts a new charter, extending her 
territory but abridging her liberties, making the governor and 
higher officials appointees of the crown. These events had the 
effect of keeping alive the jealousy and irritation of the people 
against the apparent encroachment on their rights. 

In the midst of these disturbances a war broke out between 
England and France, involving their American colonies. This 
is known as King William’s War. Each party was supported 
by Indian allies. The tribes of Canada and Maine joined the 
French, and the Five Nations the English. Hostilities com¬ 
menced in New Hampshire in the summer of 1689; in the fol¬ 
lowing winter Schenectady, in New York, was burned and the 
inhabitants massacred; in the spring New Hampshire and 
Maine were the scene of similar atrocities; and, finally, Massa¬ 
chusetts was invaded, the Indians fell upon Haverhill, and killed 
and carried away as captives many of its inhabitants. 

In the summer of 1690 Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New 
York, resolving to carry the war into the enemy’s country, 
joined in an expedition against Canada. 

With respect to y e proposal Is of sending military Forces & shiping to 
y e attacking of Canada Voted that y e designe be attended w 01 all Expedi¬ 
tion, & y* y e neighboring Colonies and Provinces be forth w acquainted 
w th ye expectation of their assistance. 

Voted y* Cap‘ Thomas Vose of Milton & Cap 1 Daniel King of Salem be 
Captains in this present Expedition against Canada. 

June 3, 1690. Passed in the affirmative by the Deputies. 

Ebenezer Prout. 

Consent 4 to by the Magistrates. 

[State Archives.] Is A Addington, Sec y . 

There is no further evidence that Capt. Vose, of Milton, was 
in this expedition. 

The fleet was under the command of Sir William Phipps, 
and a land force of two thousand troops, under John Winthrop, 
of Connecticut. This enterprise resulted in disastrous failure. 

A company of seventy-five men, under Capt. John Withing- 
ton, all from Dorchester and Milton, joined the expedition. 


QUEEN ANNE’S WAR. 


411 


The following is a list of the Milton soldiers : — 


Ensign Samuel Sumner, 
Henry Lyon, 

Eliab Lyon, 

William Sumner, 

James Swift, 

Jazeniali Sumner, 
Charles Readman, 

John Crowhore, 


William Swift, 
William Blake, 
John Gulliver, 
Samuel Triscott, 
Edward Clapp, 
Ebenezer Crane, 


Joseph Triscott, Drummer. 
Ebenezer Sumner. 


Of the two thousand comprising the land force, two hundred 
were lost, and of this two hundred, forty-six belonged to 
Capt. Withington’s company. Only twenty-five returned. En¬ 
sign Samuel Sumner and his brother William Sumner, sons of 
George Sumner, of Brush Hill, were among the lost; also Will¬ 
iam Swift, son of Deacon Thomas Swift. Other Milton boys 
who joined this ill-fated expedition never returned. The fate 
of those who fell by the sword, or were swept away by sickness 
or accident, was probably long in doubt. Twenty-five years 
later Ezra Clapp, of Milton, left by will a portion of his estate 
to his son Edward, “ if he ever returned.” 

The General Court of Massachusetts made a grant, June 19, 
1735, to the survivors of the soldiers from Dorchester and 
Milton, and to heirs of those who were lost, of a township in 
Worcester County, which was named “ Dorchester Canada.” It 
is now the town of Ashburnham. 

To meet the expenses incurred in this expedition Massachu¬ 
setts issued bills of credit, — the first paper money ever issued 
in the colonies. King William’s War was terminated in 1697 
by the treaty of Ryswick. 


QUEEN ANNE’S WAR. 


Queen Anne came to the throne March 8, 1702, and reigned 
twelve years. This was the golden age of English literature, 
— the day of Pope and Addison. It was also distinguished for 
the brilliant successes of the British arms. 


THANKSGIVING IN MILTON. 


April 8, 1703, was observed as a day of Thanksgiving in the 
town of Milton and throughout the colonies. A part of the 
royal proclamation appointing the occasion is as follows : — 

Before the late King William of glorious memory died, there were 
sundry societies set up for the reformation of manners, and behold the 



412 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


smiles of Heaven upon the same ! our nation on a sudden being filled with 
plenty of grain, and a plenty of silver, [the late fleet being taken] and 
plenty of honor and victory, so that the Queen has invited her subjects in 
the plantations of America to rejoice with her and return thanks to God. 

Before the death of King William war was opened between 
England and France, which Queen Anne inherited. The Eng¬ 
lish colonies on the Atlantic coast and the French settlements 
on the St. Lawrence, with their Indian allies, again came into 
collision. The frontier settlements of Massachusetts, — Athol, 
Brookfield, Deerfield, Lancaster, and other towns — were assailed 
by the combined force of French and Indians, and subjected to 
slaughter and pillage. Some of these towns had but just com¬ 
menced resettlement after abandonment in former wars. Mas¬ 
sachusetts promptly responded to the call of these distressed 
towns. Troops were gathered from all the older towns, and 
money was called for to such an extent as to exhaust the re¬ 
sources of towns and families. 

Milton furnished her full quota of men for this war, and 
readily met the demands on her meagre resources. 

After a short repose of peace another war broke out between 
England and France, in 1744. This also reached the American 
colonies. 

The chief event of this war in America was the capture of 
Louisburg, on Cape Breton Island, a fine fort and a strong for¬ 
tress,— the chief centre of French power. The expedition, 
consisting of four thousand troops, three thousand from Massa¬ 
chusetts and one thousand from the other colonies, sailed from 
Boston March 24, 1745. They were met at Canso, by Commo¬ 
dore Warren, with an English fleet of seven or eight men-of- 
w~ar. With the combined forces they laid siege to the fortress, 
which, on the 24th day of June, surrendered. This victory 
caused great rejoicing throughout the colonies. The land force 
was commanded by William Pepperell, Esq., who was created, by 
the king, Baronet of Great Britain, as a reward for his service. 

Most of the Massachusetts troops in this expedition were 
from this vicinity. Dorchester and Milton furnished their full 
share. 

In “ Blake’s Annals ” I find the following reference to these 
soldiers:— 

Most that went from hereabouts that I knew, either died there, or in 
their passage home, or soon after they came home; ’tis said, there died of 
our New England forces about 1,500 men. 

France, exasperated at the loss of this stronghold, which had 
cost her five and a half millions of dollars, and had been twenty- 



KING GEORGE'S WAR. 


413 


five years in building, sent, the next summer, a powerful fleet, 
with not less than eight thousand disciplined troops and the 
necessary armament, to recover the fort and ravage the coast 
of New England. 

The fleet sailed the 11th of June, and reached Nova Scotia 
about the middle of September. Consternation spread over the 
colonies. According to Blake, — 

About one-half of the militia of the country was called to Boston and the 
lower towns. Numerous works of defence were commenced about Boston, 
and prosecuted even on the Sabbath days. 

But a fatal malady broke out among the French troops, 
greatly reducing their numbers; seven of their ships were 
wrecked, and others were damaged by a terrific storm, which 
so disheartened the leaders that “ they returned to France with¬ 
out striking a blow.” 

In 1748 a treaty at Aix-la-Chapelle terminated this conflict, 
known as King Gieorge’s War. 

The peace that followed was only for a few years, when the 
colonies were thrown into anxiety and distress by the intelli¬ 
gence of another war with France. This war, known as the 

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR, 

began in 1755, and continued till 1763. Great preparations 
were made on both sides for attack and defence. 

In the spring of 1755 four expeditions were planned by the 
colonies, — one, under Gen. Braddock, against the French on 
the Ohio, which ended disastrously; a second, under command 
of Governor Shirley, to reduce Fort Niagara; the third, against 
Crown Point, a fortress on the west side of Lake Champlain; 
and the fourth, against the French in Acadia, since called Nova 
Scotia. 

In these various expeditions heavy drafts were made on the 
colonies for men and money. Milton men were enrolled in 
three of them. 

ACADIA. 

The expedition against Acadia, or Nova Scotia, consisted of 
three thousand men, chiefly from Massachusetts, under command 
of Lieut.-Col. Monckton, of the British army, with Gen. Winslow 
in charge of the first division, and Gen. Scott, of the second. 
They sailed from Boston on the 1st of June, 1755, reaching the 
Bay of Fundy early in that month. The French forts were 
speedily reduced, and Nova Scotia fell under British control. 


414 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


It was determined to break up the settlement, which was 
thought to be a hot-bed of French intrigue and conspiracy, and 
to disperse the inhabitants among the English colonies. This 
difficult and extremely painful duty was assigned to Gen. 
Winslow. 

FRENCH NEUTRALS IN MILTON. 

One thousand of these proscribed Acadians were transported 
to Massachusetts. Three families were billeted on the town of 
Milton from Dec. 20, 1755, to Sept. 26, 1760. These are often 
referred to by name in our records. Houses were rented for them, 
and their wants were supplied by the town, the expense being in 
part reimbursed from the State. The following details relating 
to these banished Acadians, which have been found in the Massa¬ 
chusetts Archives, cannot fail to interest the reader : — 

The first of the families in Milton is, — Seabrew, 34 years old; his wife, 
32 years; his first son, 10 years; second son, 8 years; third son, 6 years; 
fourth son, 4 years ; his first daughter, 2 years ; second daughter, 2 months. 

Second family. — Battis, 33 years old; his wife, 28 years; first son, 9 
years; second son, 3 years; his daughter, 7 years. 

Third family. — Loring, 29 years old; his wife, 24 years old; eldest 
son, 5 years ; second son, 3 years ; third son, 9 months. 

The said Battis is in feeble health, and has been since he came to 
Milton; the woman weakly ; the boy nine years old weakly. It is found 
that they have cost the town seventy-six pounds, five shillings, and five 
pence, for the year. 

Petition of Milton regarding French Neutrals. 

Province of Massachusetts, Bay S. S. To his Excellency, Thomas Pow- 
nal, Esq., Captain General and Governor in Chief of the Honorable, His 
Majesty’s Council and House of Representatives in the General Court, 
assembled this 23 of November, Anno Domini, 1757. 

We the subscribers Selectmen of Milton in behalf of said town humbly 
shew — 

That the town of Milton have for some time past had sixteen of the 
Neutral French quartered on them, which number has since increased to 
eighteen, that there are but three men in the number, one of whom is in a 
weak and delicate state, which number your petitioners humbly apprehend, 
according to the number quartered on other towns, greatly exceeds their 
proportion. The town is but a small town, and though they would cheer¬ 
fully in this time of distress bear their proportion to their utmost ability, 
but more than that is greivous. We would therefore humbly move your 
Excellencies and Honors to interfere in behalf of Milton, so far as to give 
them such relief in the premises as according to your known wisdom and 
accustomed justice you shall see meet, and your petitioners as in duty bound 
shall ever pray. 

Benjamin Fenno, 

Benjamin Wadsworth, 
William Tucker, 

David Rawson, 

Jeremiah Tucker, 

Select Men. 



FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS . 


415 


With the exception of the success at Nova Scotia the 
measures planned for 1755 resulted in failure. 

The season of 1756, by dilatory management, passed without 
any successful movements’against Crown Point or Niagara. 

In 1757 Fort William Henry was lost to the English, and 
nothing was achieved. 

About this time William Pitt was again appointed Secretary 
of State, and by his wise administration the British councils 
were infused with new life. 

SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGNS. 

The various campaigns of 1758 were favorable. Louisburg, 
which had been restored to France by the treaty of Aix-la- 
Chapelle, was a second time reduced. In the siege of this 
stronghold Col. Golding, grandfather of William Wood, of 
Milton, bore a conspicuous part. He provided his command 
with long iron hooks, which they fastened on the walls at the 
storming of the fort, and thus drew themselves up hand over 
hand to the parapet and entered the fort; for which act Col. 
Golding was knighted by the government of England. Fort 
Frontenac was also captured. In the closing months of the 
year the English flag was flying over Fort Duquesne. 

The general invasion of Canada was planned as the campaign 
of 1759. Gen. Amherst led one army against Crown Point and 
Ticonderoga. These strongholds were abandoned in July, and 
were occupied by the colonial troops. 

Gen. Prideaux led a second army against Niagara, which sur¬ 
rendered after a short siege. 

Gen. Wolfe, with eight thousand troops and a powerful fleet, 
was delegated to the reduction of Quebec. The troops were 
landed in June. A startling plan of operation was formed by 
the commanding general, attended with the greatest hazard, 
but conducted with consummate energy and sagacity, by which 
he succeeded in bringing the enemy to battle on the Plains of 
Abraham, Sept. 13. Before noon of that day the victory of the 
English arms decided the fate of France in America. But in 
the very moment of victory Gen. Wolfe was borne from the field 
pierced by two bullets, and died, in the thirty-fourth year of 
his age. In this battle was James Boies, of Milton, who after¬ 
wards bore a conspicuous part in the Revolutionary war. 

A definite treaty was signed at Paris in 1763, bringing to an 
end the American intercolonial wars. 

In these protracted wars Massachusetts furnished between two 
and three times as many troops as were raised in all the other 


416 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


colonies. While the other colonies doubled their population by 
natural increase in twenty-five years, Massachusetts had not 
twice as many inhabitants in 1713 as she numbered fifty years 
before. Hutchinson, in recording these facts, remarks : — 

It is probable that there would have been two hundred thousand souls 
more at this time if the French had been driven from Canada a hundred 
years ago. 

To meet this large draft upon the State, every town had its 
quota to furnish. 


MILTON SOLDIERS. 

In the muster-rolls of the various companies raised in Boston 
and vicinity I find the names of many of our early citizens, 
which will here be given without attempting a connected narra¬ 
tive. 

In the company of Capt. Nathaniel Blake, of Milton, of the 
regiment under command of Col. Jonathan Bagley, raised for 
the intended expedition against Crown Point, are the following 
Milton men: — 


Edward Glover, Ensign 
Lemuel Yoss, Sargeant 
Abiel Blake, Sentinel 
David Horton, Sentinel 
Israel Percy, Sentinel 


Nathaniel Badcock 
Joseph Payne 
Benoni Spear 
Seth Smith 
Seth Yose. 


Edward Glover died at Albany before April 20, 1757, and 
was buried there at the expense of the government. 


Albany Dec 7 1755 Judge Bent of Milton Captain of a company in the 
expedition died here today of dropsy. 

A list of those, the party of min that went on shore at Port Le Tore 
belonging to Captain Sturtevants Company April 25, 1756 Lieut Lemuel 
Bent — Corp. Jacob French — David Horton—Levi Horton—James Mingo. 

% 

The above were all Milton men. 

Capt. Thomas Yose, of Milton, who had charge of a troop 
of horse in 1757, led his troopers to the relief of Fort William 
Henry, at the foot of Lake George, when that fort was threat¬ 
ened by Montcalm. 

Seth Sumner, of Brush Hill, was also engaged as “ trooper ” 
in this war. 


Lemuel Bent of Milton is authorized to beat his drums for enlistment 
of Volunteers for his Majestys Service in a regiment of foot for a general 
invasion of Canada— April 20 1758 

Signed 


T. Pownal Govenor 


WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 


417 


The same Lemuel Bent, Milton tavern-keeper, was stationed, 
Nov. 23, 1761, as captain of his company (gathered in and near 
Milton), at Halifax. 

In 1759 Stephen Yose, of Milton, was with the provincial 
forces at St. John, N. B., under Col. Arbuthnot; he was wounded 
in an engagement with the Indians, and his leg was amputated 
above the knee. A pension was granted him, which was re¬ 
newed in 1775. 

Benjamin Horton, of Milton, petitions Governor Hutchinson, 
June 6, 1760, in behalf of his son, Nathaniel Horton, a minor, 
who enlisted in the company of which Capt. Lemuel Bent had 
command, in Col. Abijah Willard’s regiment, in the forces raised 
for the reduction of Canada, and was there taken sick, and 
needed aid. An allowance was granted him. 

It is not designed, nor is it possible, to name here all the 
Milton men who were actors in these numerous wars, that 
spread over almost the whole of the first century of the town’s 
existence, much less to mention in detail the struggles and 
privations of the wonderful men and women then living. 

The colonies were sparsely peopled except on the sea-coast. 
They were hemmed in on every side. A hostile and insidious 
foe hung oh the outskirts. A cordon of sixty French fortifica¬ 
tions, stretching from Montreal to New Orleans, encircled them 
on the west, threatening invasion and conquest. The Atlantic 
shut down upon them on the east, across which the mother- 
country sent her emissaries, forcing submission to unreasonable 
demands, or exacting tribute from a stricken and famished 
people; they must tamely submit, or stubbornly resist. This 
discipline to these resolute and indomitable spirits was indeed 
bitter, but it developed a power of character and a reservation 
of force needful in events about to transpire. In the varied 
experiences of these trying times is clearly seen the process 
which formed the principles and men of 1775. 


WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 

After the peace of 1763 the British Parliament, to meet the ex¬ 
penses of the late wars, passed an act for laying a duty on paper, 
vellum, or parchment used in America, and declaring all writ¬ 
ings on unstamped material null and void. This act, called the 
Stamp Act, received the royal assent March 22, 1765. Soon 
after a bill was passed quartering British troops on the colonies. 



418 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


These acts met with universal opposition. The whole country 
was wrought up into a state of intense excitement. 

On the 1st day of November, when the Stamp Act was to 
have taken effect, neither stamps nor officers were to be found 
in the colonies, and in less than a year from its passage the act 
was repealed. 

In 1767 duties were imposed on various articles of importa¬ 
tion needful in the colonies, and the collection was enforced by 
English troops quartered in Boston, which was followed by a 
combination of the merchants and people against the importation 
and consumption of the articles specified, and soon after by a 
repeal of the duties, except on tea. 

The people accordingly united in renouncing the use of tea; 
and, on the persistent shipment of the offensive article, two ves¬ 
sels bearing it, as they were anchored in Boston harbor, were 
boarded, Dec. 16, 1773, by sixty or seventy young men, dis¬ 
guised as Indians, when three hundred and forty-two chests of 
tea were thrown overboard. Among their number was John 
Crane, born in Milton; Dec. 7, 1744; also, Samuel Gore, grand¬ 
father of Theodore Russell Glover, now resident on Milton 
Hill, and Henry Purkett, from whom our honored citizen, the 
late Henry Purkett Kidder, received his name. 

This daring act on the part of the colonists was followed by 
the “Boston Port Bill,” March 31, 1774, forbidding all com¬ 
mercial intercourse with Boston, and soon after by a second 
bill, vesting in the king or his governor the appointment of 
all officers, executive, military, and judicial; thus virtually 
abrogating the government of Massachusetts. 

These oppressive measures, though mainly aimed at Massa¬ 
chusetts and Boston, awoke the resentment of all the colonies, 
and served to unite them in the most determined opposition, 
and, on the failure of all efforts at reconciliation, forced them 
to the dread arbitrament of war. 

MILTOidS POSITION. 

The town of Milton occupied an extraordinary position in 
the opening of these disturbances. Thomas Hutchinson, the 
royal governor, and the chief actor for the crown, owned a 
mansion on Milton Hill. After the sacking of his house in Bos¬ 
ton this was his constant place of residence. In his private 
character, as a friend and citizen, Governor Hutchinson was 
universally beloved and greatly respected, and by his high quali¬ 
ties of mind and heart he had drawn around him the affections 
of the people. At the opening of the Revolution his fame was 
at its zenith. John Adams says: — 



WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 


419 


He had been admired, revered, rewarded, and almost adored; and the 
idea was common that he was the greatest and best man in America. 

In 1761 he was Lieutenant-Governor, and thus Commander of 
the Castle and member of the Council, besides holding at the 
same time the important positions of Judge of Probate and 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. 

He was a graceful speaker, a vigorous writer, and a highly 
respectable scholar. Few who sat upon the bench in the last 
century were more deserving commendation than Governor 
Hutchinson. 

It is a traditional anecdote that after listening to the charges given by 
his associates, juries were in the habit of remarking when Hutchinson rose 
to address them that “ now we shall have something which we can under¬ 
stand.”' 

For a time there may have been in Milton a conflict between 
loyalty to a noble and faithful friend and loyalty to the princi¬ 
ples of justice and freedom. The period of suspense was brief. 
Milton was among the first to resent the aggressive acts of the 
mother-country, and her men were foremost in the ranks of our 
armies. Spread over many pages of the records of the town 
appear the principles that governed our fathers, and the senti¬ 
ments that actuated them in endeavoring to redress the griev¬ 
ances and throw off the burdens they were subjected to. 
These stirring words awaken inspiration even in our day. 

A month after Governor Hutchinson’s Boston mansion was 
destroyed, and just before the Stamp Act was to take effect the 
town assembled in mass meeting on the green about the church. 
The record" of that meeting is as follows: — 

Oct. 24. 1765. The question was put, whether the town would instruct 
their present representative respecting the Stamp Act, and passed in the 
affirmative. Voted to choose a Committee to draw up instructions. Ac¬ 
cordingly Dr. Samuel Gardner, Deacon Benjamin Wadsworth and Lieuten¬ 
ant Jazaniah Tucker were chose, who withdrew and after a short time 
returned with the following instructions, which the town unanimously 
accepted, and voted that they be recorded in the town books, and that an 
attested copy thereof be by the Town Clerk delivered to Stephen Miller 
Esq. our present Representative. 

Instructions by the Freeholders and other Inhabitants of Milton to Stephen 
Miller Esq, their present Representative. 

Being sensibly affected by the calamitous circumstances to which this 
Country must be soon reduced by the execution of the Stamp Act, unless 
by some means relieved, we think proper in the present distressed conjunc¬ 
tion of affairs to give you the following instructions. 

1 st . That you promote and readily join in representing our grievances 
to the King and Parliament in a suitable manner, and if redress may easily 
be obtained it will be most acceptable to us — yet as the distress threatened 


420 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


must [if not prevented] bring Slavery and Ruin, we expect you to promote 
and join in measures which may relieve us, be the expense and conse¬ 
quences what they will: —for if we had no dispute as to the justice of a 
tax where we are not represented, the sum that even the Distributors of the 
Stamps would have for their trouble, according to best calculation that has 
been made, would be insupportable for us to pay in addition to our annual 
expenses, and the great debts that we have contracted in the last war. Now 
if we had been represented in Parliament or could have been heard by our 
agents, we cant suppose that such an immoderate tax would have been laid 
upon us, if it had been just to lay any. 

But if British subjects in America are liable to be taxed otherwise than 
by their own Representatives and may not be allowed trial by their own 
peers, which by this Act we understand is the case, they are as distant from 
the liberty of Englishmen as are the Slaves of Turkey. 

2. That you discountenance as far as lies in your power the late horri¬ 
ble outrages that have been committed in the town of Boston, and that 
you use your utmost endeavors that the offenders may be found out and be 
brought to justice, and that restitution may be made by the means of their 
accomplices, if they have estates sufficient, to the persons who have suffered 
by them. And we could wish that persons who desire to conceal such 
offenders were obliged to make satisfaction in their stead. And if 
there are not laws already, sufficient for restraining such disorderly per¬ 
sons, we desire th$,t you use your endeavors that laws be made sufficient 
for that purpose, so that all his Majesty’s Subjects in this province may 
have their lives and property secured, if they are thought worth securing 
after the Stamp Act takes place. 

3 d . We expect that you enquire by what authority or whose advice it 
was, that the public money was appropriated for raising soldiers without 
the consent and in the absence of the General Court. 

Recorded by Elijah Wadsworth 

Town Clerk. 

During this exciting period town meetings were held every 
month, and sometimes much oftener; in one year of the war, 
1778, nineteen meetings were held by the town. At these 
meetings matters of vital interest were considered, and great 
principles were discussed by men deeply in earnest. We might 
here, with profit, present in a somewhat liberal manner the 
doings of these meetings, showing the masterly way in which 
great subjects were treated by common minds, — minds pro¬ 
foundly moved by the threatening perils; but the records of 
one meeting more must suffice: — 

Jan. 8. 1773. The Committee chosen by the Town of Milton to draw 
up instructions to their Representative report as follows : — 

To Mr. Josiah How Representative for the Town of Milton 

Sir. — We have heard read the letter of Correspondence from the Town 
of Boston with their proceedings, and find many grievances there justly 
complained of, too many to be enumerated here, but recommend that 
pamphlet to your perusal. Whoever seriously considers the conduct of 
Administration both at home and here can hardly entertain a doubt that a 
plan is formed to subvert the Constitution. 




WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 


421 


First — The British Parliament making an act to raise a revenue without 
the consent of the people themselves or their Representatives is a grievance 
of the first magnitude. 

Again. — The Crowns making the Governor independent of the people 
has a tendency to destroy that harmony which should always subsist be¬ 
tween the three branches of Legislature in a free State. 

Again. — The general difference made between the trial of subjects 
here and at home, in the Act for searching his Majestys Dock Yards and 
other naval stores, is a great grievance. 

Again.—The making the Judges of the Supreme Court dependent on 
the Crown and independent of the people whose lives and fortunes are so 
much in their power, is a great grievance naturally tending to subvert 
Justice between the King and Subject. 

We recommend and enjoin you to use your interest and influence in the 
House of Representatives as far as is consistent with the lights of the peo¬ 
ple to Petition his Majesty, and to remove the grievance we labor under. 
And in the meantime we depend upon your steadiness prudence and firm¬ 
ness, and that you give not up one jot or tittle of our rights, but dispute every 
inch of ground with the enemies of our Liberties and Freedom. 

By the Committee — John Adams, Col. W m . Taylor, Dr. Samuel Gard¬ 
ner, Capt. David Rawson and Daniel Vose. — 

The question was put whether the Town would accept this report as in¬ 
structions to their Representative and it passed, in the affirmative. 

Amariah Blake, Recorder. 

GOVERNOR. HUTCHINSON’S DEPARTURE. 

In the progress of events Governor Hutchinson deemed it 
expedient to relinquish his trust, and to remove to England, from 
considerations of safety and needful repose. A few citizens of 
Milton, to relieve, in a measure, the adverse circumstances of 
his departure, conceived the idea of tendering the governor a 
friendly parting address, influenced, no doubt, by similar action 
on the part of many leading members of the bar of Massachusetts, 
who had forwarded to the governor a complimentary address, but 
afterwards publicly retracted their expressions of approbation. 

This document, which is not a matter of record, and has never 
been printed, and has also failed to meet the searching eye of 
the antiquarian, has come do wn to us in its original manuscript, 
yellow with age. It is interesting and instructive, as showing 
the decided opinions prevailing on both sides, and the definite 
party lines that divided the people. 

Of the men whose names were affixed to this paper, James 
Murray soon after left Milton, and in 1776 went to England. 
Stephen Miller removed to Nova Scotia; his estate in Scott’s 
Woods was confiscated. 

To Thomas Hutchinson Esquire Late Gov. &c. 

Sir, — We the Select Men, the Magistrates and other principal Inhabi¬ 
tants of the Town of Milton, hearing of your speedy Embarkation for Eng- 


422 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


land, cannot let you leave this Town which you have so long honored by 
your Residence without some publick Expression of our sincere wishes for 
your health and happiness. 

We have been Eye Witnesses, Sir, of your amiable private and useful 
publick Life ; We have with concern beheld you, in the faithful and prudent 
Discharge of your Duty exposed to Calumnies, Trials and Sufferings, as 
unjust as severe; and seen you bearing them all with becoming Meekness 
and Fortitude. 

As to ourselves and Neighbours in particular; altho many of us, in future 
Perplexities will often fern the Want of your skillful gratuitous advice, 
always ready for those who asked it, we cannot but rejoice for your Sake 
Sir, at your being so seasonably relieved by an honourable and worthy Suc¬ 
cessor, in this critical and distressful period from the growing Difficulty of 
the Government of your beloved native Province. And we see your De¬ 
parture with the less Regret, being convinced that the Change atpresent will 
contribute to your and your Family’s Tranquility: possessed as you are of 
the applause of good men, of the favour of our Sovereign, and the Appro¬ 
bation of a good Conscience to prepare the Way to Rewards infinitely ample 
from the King of Kings ; to whose Almighty protection, We, with greatful 
hearts commend you and your family. 

Signed Sam l Davenport 

Ja. Murray 
Stephen Miller 
Josiah How 
Benjamin Horton 
Zed ah Crehore 


REPLY OF GOVERNOR HUTCHINSON. 

Gentlemen 

I have received innumerable marks of respect and kindness 
from the Inhabitants of the Town of Milton, of which I shall ever retain the 
most grateful Remembrance. I leave you with regret. I hope to return 
and spend the short remains of my life among you in peace and quiet and 
in doing every good office to you in my power. 

Tho. Hutchinson. 

Milton Sept' 21 1774. — Mess" Davenport Miller and How were taken to 
Task by the Town Meeting for having signed the above address altho it was 
never presented or published. They were required by next day to make 
an acknowledgement of their offence — And a Committee of fifteen was 
chosen to treat with them and Mr Murray. 

Sept 1 22 These Culprits attended and made the following acknowledge¬ 
ment, of which the Committee accepted, requiring them to sign it and to 
read it severally before the Town Meeting on the green. This done the 
Meeting by some Majority voted it not satisfactory. The offenders all but 
Cap* Davenport went home without making any other. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 

Whereas We the Subscribers did sign and endeavour to promote among 
the Inhabitants of our Town of Milton an Address to Gov 1 Hutchinson a 
few daj^s before his Embarkation for England, which Address contained 
Compliments to the Gov r , that we did and do still, in our consciences, be- 


WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 


423 


lieve to be justly due to him; and Whereas we did further believe that it 
would be very acceptable to the Town to give them such an Opportunity of 
showing their gratitude to the Governor. 

Now since the Temper of the Times is such, that what we meant to 
please has eventually displeased our Neighbours, We, who desire to live in 
peace and good will with them are sorry for it. Witness our hands this 
22 d day of Sept r 1774. 

Signed Ja. Murray 

Stephen Miller 
Josiah How 
Sam l Davenport. 

After the departure of the first three of these, the meeting 
insisted on Capt. Davenport’s making the following acknowl¬ 
edgment, and that the committee should have the rest to 
make it at or before the next town-meeting on Monday, 3d 
October:—- 

Whereas We the Subscribers have given the good People of this Town 
and Province in General just Cause to be offended with each of us, in that 
unguarded action of ours in signing an address to the late Governor Hutch¬ 
inson, for which we are heartily sorry and take this opportunity publickly 
to manifest it, and declare we did not so well consider the Contents. And 
we heartily beg their forgiveness and all others we may have offended: 
Also that we may be restored to their favour, and be made Partakers of that 
inestimable blessing, the good Will of our Neighbours, and the whole Com¬ 
munity. 

Witness our hands 

Milton 22 d Sept r signed Sam l Davenport 

24 Sept' - Josiah How 

25 Sept 1 - Ja Murray 

25 Sept'- Stephen Miller 


MISAPPREHENSIONS IN PARLIAMENT. 

From this time events seemed hastening to an issue. Gen. 
Gage, the successor of Gov. Hutchinson, on the 1st of Septem¬ 
ber, 1774, with a detachment of two hundred and fifty men, took 
possession of the powder-house of the province, and removed 
therefrom two hundred and fifty barrels of powder to the Castle. 
At nearly the same time he commenced the fortification of 
Boston neck, by these acts rousing the people to a furor of 
excitement. 

June 24 1775 This day two of our men went to set Browns house on 
the Neck afire, and were both killed. One was old Share of Milton. — 
8. Pierce's Diary. 

Up to this time great misapprehensions had existed in Eng¬ 
land respecting the prevalence of the opposition in the colonies. 


424 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


It was generally believed in Parliament that only a small 
faction, confined to a few ambitious leaders in Massachusetts 
and Boston, objected to the policy of the mother-country. 

To correct this impression, and to make it manifest that but 
one sentiment pervaded the whole country respecting the arbi¬ 
trary and oppressive measures of the parent government, as 
well as to provide for the preservation of their rights, a Con¬ 
tinental Congress had been determined upon, to be composed 
of . delegates from all the colonies. This Congress assembled in 
Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1774. 

It was also determined that meetings of delegates from all 
the towns should be held in the several counties of Massachu¬ 
setts, to give expression to their sentiments respecting the con¬ 
dition of the country. 

SUFFOLK COUNTY CONVENTION. 

We come now to the most memorable event that ever occurred 
in Milton. The Massachusetts colony had already suffered 
beyond endurance. 

Gen. Joseph Warren, the leading spirit of the times, in a 
letter to Samuel Adams, of September 4, thus writes: — 

You will I am sure consider the great difference that there is between 
this and the other Colonies. Their commerce glides in its usual channels, 
their charters have not yet been torn in pieces by the harpies of power, they 
retain their usual forms' of trials by juries in courts duly constituted. What 
is left for us ? If we acquiesce but for an hour, the shackles will be fixed 
forever. Our all is at stake. We must give up our rights and boast no 
more of freedom, or we must oppose immediately. Our enemies press so 
close that we cannot rest upon our arms. If this province is saved it must 
be by adopting measures immediately efficacious. 

Such was the spirit that moved the delegates of the Suffolk 
Convention about to assemble. The meeting could not, with 
safety, be held in Boston. The convention thereupon met first 
at Colonel Doty’s tavern, in Stoughton, April 16, 1774. The 
house where they met is still standing, under the shadow of 
Blue Hill, just within the confines of Canton. As the towns 
were not all represented, and some of the delegates were not 
authorized to act for the county, the meeting was adjourned to 
Sept. 6, 1774, to meet at the house of Richard Woodward, inn¬ 
holder in Dedham. 

One of the delegates at Doty’s tavern writes: — 


Good Parson Dunbar gave us the most extraordinary liberty prayer that 
I ever heard. 




BIRTHPLACE OF AMERICAN LIBERTY. 


Inscription on the marble tablet in front of the building'. 


In this Mansion, 

on the Ninth Day of September, 1774, at a meeting of the Delegates of 
every Town and District in the County of Suffolk, the 
Suffolk Resolves were adopted. 

They were reported by Major-General Warren, who fell in their defence 
in the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. 

They were approved by the Members of the Continental Congress, at 
Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, on the Seventeenth of 
September, 1774. 

The Resolves to which the immortal Patriot here first gave utterance, and 
the heroic deeds of that eventful day on which he fell, led the 
way to American Independence. 

" Posterity will acknowledge that virtue which preserved them 
free and happy." 











I 



WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 


425 


It was here, or prior to this, perhaps, when the English fleet 
was about to enter Boston harbor, he prayed that they might 
be “jerked about by old ocean and thrown on Cohasset rocks.” 

On the 6th of September the delegates to the number of 
sixty, from the nineteen towns of Suffolk County (which then 
embraced the whole of Norfolk), assembled in Dedham. 
Gen. Joseph Warren was made chairman of a large com¬ 
mittee to frame suitable resolves and to report, September 9, 
at the house of Daniel Vose, in Milton, to which time and place 
the convention was adjourned. This house is still standing 
near Milton railroad depot, and is now owned by the Hon. 
Nathaniel F. Safford. A picture of it is given on the opposite 
page. Here the convention met as by adjournment on the 9th 
of September, 1774, with a full roll of delegates, when Gen. 
Joseph Warren presented that remarkable paper known as the 
Suffolk Resolves, which was read paragraph by paragraph and 
adopted by the convention. 

The great length of this paper at first raised the question 
whether it should be spread out in full on our pages. But a 
second thought left the conviction that a declaration of senti¬ 
ments so just and forcible as to unite in one the judgment and 
feelings of all the colonies, and to decide that line of conduct 
resulting in American independence, fairly belongs to the town 
where it was first set forth, and openly declared with the 
sanction and concurrence of said town, and becomes a part 
of its history. 

“ The Suffolk Resolves lighted the match that kindled the mighty confla¬ 
gration .” 

SUFFOLK RESOLVES. 

Whereas the power but not the justice, the vengeance but not the wis¬ 
dom, of Great Britain, which of old persecuted, scourged and exiled our 
fugitive parents from their native shores, now pursues us, their guiltless 
children, with unrelenting severity; and whereas, this then savage and 
uncultivated desert was purchased by the toil and treasure, or acquired by 
the valor or blood of those our venerable progenitors, who bequeathed to 
us the dear-bought inheritance, who consigned it to our care and protection, 
— the most sacred obligations are upon us to transmit the glorious pur¬ 
chase, unfettered by power, unclogged with shackles, to our innocent and 
beloved offspring. On the fortitude, on the wisdom, and on the exertions 
of this important day is suspended the fate of this New World, and of 
unborn millions. If a boundless extent of continent, swarming with mil¬ 
lions, will tamely submit to live, move and have their being at the arbitrary 
will of a licentious minister, they basely yield to voluntary slavery, and 
future generations shall load their memories with incessant execrations. 
On the other hand, if we arrest the hand which would l'ansack our pockets; 
if we disarm the parricide who points the dagger at our bosoms; if we 
nobly defeat that fatal edict which proclaims a power to frame laws for us 


426 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


in all cases whatsoever, thereby entailing the endless and numberless 
curses of slavery upon us, our heirs and their heirs forever; if we success¬ 
fully resist that unparalleled usurpation of unconstitutional power, whereby 
our capital is robbed of the means of life; whereby the streets of Boston 
are thronged with military executioners; whereby our coasts are lined, 
and our harbors crowded with ships of war; whereby the charter of the 
colony, that sacred barrier against the encroachments of tyranny, is muti¬ 
lated, and in effect annihilated; whereby a murderous law is framed to 
shelter villains from the hands of justice; whereby that inalienable and 
inestimable inheritance, which we derived from nature, the constitution of 
Britain, which was covenanted to us in the charter of the province, is totally 
wrecked, annulled and vacated — posterity will acknowledge that virtue 
which preserved the free and happy ; and while we enjoy the rewards and 
blessings of the faithful, the torrent of panegyric will roll down our repu¬ 
tations to that latest period, when the streams of time shall be absorbed in 
the abyss of eternity. 

Therefore we have resolved and do resolve : — 

1. That whereas His Majesty King George the Third is the rightful 
successor to the throne of Great Britain, and justly entitled to the allegiance 
of the British realm, and, agreeable to compact, of the English colonies in 
America — therefore we the heirs and successors of the first p 1 anters of 
the colony, do cheerfully acknowledge the said George the Third to be our 
rightful sovereign, and that said covenant is the tenure and claim on which 
are founded our allegiance and submission. 

2. That it is an indispensable duty which we owe to God, our country, 
ourselves and our posterity, by all lawful ways and means in our power, to 
maintain, defend and preserve these civil and religious rights and liberties 
for which many of our fathers fought, bled and died, and to hand them 
down entire to future generations. 

3. That the late Acts of the British Parliament for blocking up the 
harbor of Boston, and for altering the established form of government in 
this colony, and for screening the most flagitious violators of the laws of 
the province from a legal trial, are gross infractions of those rights to which 
we are justly entitled by the laws of nature, the British Constitution and 
the charter of the province. 

4. That no obedience is due from this province to either or any part of 
the Acts above mentioned; but that they be rejected as the attempts of a 
wicked Administration to enslave America. 

5. That so long as the justices of our superior courts of judicature, 
court of assize and general gaol delivery, and inferior courts of common 
pleas in this county are appointed, or hold their places by any other tennre 
than that which the charter and the laws of the province direct, they must 
be considered as under undue influence, and are therefore unconstitutional 
officers, and as such no regard ought to be paid to them by the people of 
this country. 

6. That if the justices of the superior court of judicature, court of assize, 
&c., justices of the court of common pleas, or of the general sessions of the 
peace, shall sit and act dui’ing their present unqualified state, this country 
will support and bear harmless all sheriffs and their deputies, constables, 
jurors and other officers who shall refuse to carry into execution the orders 
of said courts. And as far as is possible to prevent the inconveniences that 
must attend the suspension of the courts of justice, we do earnestly rec¬ 
ommend it to all creditors to exercise all reasonable and generous forbear¬ 
ance to their debtors, and to all debtors to discharge their just debts with 
all possible speed ; and if any disputes concerning debts or trespasses shall 
arise, which cannot be settled by the parties, we recommend it to them to 


WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 


427 


submit all such eases to arbitration ; and if the parties, or either of them 
shall refuse to do so, they ought to be considered as cooperating with the 
enemies of this country. 

7. That it be recommended to the collectors of taxes, constables and all 
other officers who have public monies in their hands, to retain the same, 
and not to make any payment thereof to the province or county treasurers, 
until the civil government of the province is placed upon a constitutional 
foundation, or until it shall be otherwise ordered by the proposed Provin¬ 
cial Congress. 

8. That the persons who have accepted seats at the Council Board by 
virtue of a mandamus from the King in conformity with the late Act of the 
British Parliament, entitled, An Act for the regulating the Government of 
the Massachusetts Bay, have acted in direct violation of the duty they owe 
to the country, and have thereby given great and just otfence to this 
people. Therefore, 

Resolved, That this county do recommend it to all persons who have 
so highly offended by accepting said department, and have not already 
publicly resigned their seats in the Council Board, to make public resignation 
of their places at said Board on or before the twentieth day of this instant 
September; and that all persons neglecting so to do shall from and after 
that day be considered by this county as obstinate and incorrigible enemies 
to this colony. 

9. That the fortifications begun and now carrying on upon Boston Keck 
are justly alarming to this country, and give us reason to apprehend some 
hostile intention against that town, more especially as the commander-in¬ 
chief has in a very extraordinary manner removed the powder from the 
magazine at Charlestown and has also forbidden the keeper of the magazine 
at Boston to deliver out to the owners the powder, which they lodged in 
said magazine. 

10. That the late Act of Parliament for establishing the Roman Catholic 
religion and the French laws in that extensive country now called Canada is 
dangerous to an extreme degree to the Protestant religion, and to the civil 
rights and liberties of all America; and therefore as men and Protestant 
Christians we are indispensably obliged to take all proper measures tor our 
seeurity. 

11. That whereas our enemies have flattered themselves that they shall 
make an easy prey of this numerous brave and hardy people from an ap¬ 
prehension that they are unacquainted with military discipline, we therefore, 
for the honor, defence, and security of this country and province, advise, 
as it has been recommended to take away all commissions from the officers 
of the militia, that those who now hold commissions, or such other persons, 
be elected in each town as officers in the militia, as shall be judged of suf¬ 
ficient capacity for that purpose, and who have evidenced themselves the 
inflexible friends to the rights of the people; and that the inhabitants of 
those towns and districts who are qualified, do use their utmost diligence to 
acquaint themselves with the arts of war as soon as possible, and do for 
that purpose appear under arms at least once every week. 

12. That during the present hostile appearances on the part of Great 
Britain, notwithstanding the many insults and impressions which we must 
sensibly resent, yet, nevertheless, from an affection to His Majesty, which we 
have at all times evidenced, we are determined to act merely upon the 
defensive, so long as such conduct may be vindicated by reason, and the 
principles of self-preservation, but no longer. 

13. That as we understand it has been in contemplation to apprehend sun¬ 
dry persons of this country, who have rendered themselves conspicuous in 
contending for the violated rights and liberties of their countrymen, we do 


428 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


recommend, that should such an audacious measure be put in practice, to 
seize and keep in safe custody every servant of the present tyrannical and 
unconstitutional government throughout the country and province, until 
the persons so apprehended are liberated from the hands of our adversaries, 
and l’estored safe and uninjured to their respective friends and families. 

14. That until our rights are fully restored to us, we will to the utmost 
of our power [and recommend the same to the other counties] withhold all 
commercial intercourse with Great Britain, Ireland and the West Indies, and 
abstain from the consumption of British merchandise and manufacture, and 
especially of East India teas and piece goods, with such additions, altera¬ 
tions and exceptions only as the Grand Congress of the colonies may 
agree to. 

15. That under our present circumstances it is incumbent on us to en¬ 
courage arts and manufactures amongst us by all means in our power; 
and that Joseph Palmer Esq of Braintree, Mr Ebenezer Dorr of Roxbury; 
Mr James Bois and Mr Edward Preston of Milton; and Mr Nathaniel 
Guild of Walpole, — be and hereby are appointed a committee to consider 
of the best ways and means to promote and establish the same, and report 
to this convention as soon as may be. 

16. That the exigencies of our public affairs demand that a Provincial 
Congress be called to concert such measures as may be adopted and vigor¬ 
ously executed by the whole people ; and we do recommend it to the sev¬ 
eral towns in this county to choose members for such a Provincial Congress 
to be holden in Concord on the second Tuesday of October next ensuing. 

17. That this county confiding in the wisdom and integrity of the Continen¬ 
tal Congress now sitting at Philadelphia, will pay all due respect and sub¬ 
mission to such measures as may be recommended by them to the colonies, 
for the restoration and establishment of our just rights, civil and religious, 
and for renewing that harmony and union between Great Britain and the 
colonies so earnestly wished for by all good men. 

18. Whereas the universal uneasiness which prevails among all orders 
of men, arising from the wicked and oppi'essive measures of the present 
Administration, may influence some unthinking persons to commit outrage 
upon private property, we would heartily recommend to all persons of this 
community not to engage in any riots, routs or licentious attacks upon the 
properties of any person whatsoever, as being subversive of all order and 
government, but, by a steady, manly, uniform and persevering opposition to 
convince our enemies, that in a contest so important in a cause so solemn, 
our conduct shall be such as shall merit the approbation of the wise, and 
the admiration of the brave and free of every age and of every country. 

19. That should our enemies by any sudden manoeuvres, render it neces¬ 
sary for us to ask aid and assistance of our brethren in the country, some 
one of the committee of correspondence or a select man of such a town, or 
the town adjoining where such hostilities shall commence, shall despatch 
couriers with written messages to the select men or committees of corre¬ 
spondence of the several towns in the vicinity, with a written account of such 
matter, who shall despatch others to committees or select men more remote 
till proper and sufficient assistance be obtained; and that the expense of said 
couriers be defrayed by the county until it shall be otherwise ordered by 
the Provincial Congress. 

Voted that Joseph Warren Esq and Dr Benjamin Church of Boston ; Dea¬ 
con Joseph Palmer and Colonel Ebenezer Thayer of Braintree; Captain 
Lemuel Robinson, William Holden Esq and Captain John Homans of Dor¬ 
chester; Capt W m Heath of Roxbury; Colonel William Taylor and Dr 
Samuel Gardner of Milton; Isaac Gardner Esq. Capt. Benjamin White and 
Capt Thomas Aspinwall of Brookline ; Nathaniel Sumner Esq and Richard 


WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 


429 


Woodward of Dedham, — be a committee to wait on His Excellency the 
governor, to inform him that this county is alarmed at the fortifications 
making on Boston Neck, and to remonstrate against the same, and the re¬ 
peated insults offered by the soldiery to persons passing and repassing into 
that town; and to confer with him upon those subjects. 

Attest: William Thompson, Clerk 

ACTION OF CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 

Paul Revere was selected as the messenger to proceed to 
Philadelphia and present the resolves to the Continental Con¬ 
gress then in session there. They were read on the 17th of 
September, and were received with great enthusiasm by the dele¬ 
gates. Admiration for the people of Boston and sympathy for 
their suffering condition were expressed in the strongest lan¬ 
guage. John Adams says: “ I saw the tears gush into the eyes 
of the old, grave, pacific Quakers of Pennsylvania.” It was the 
first organized utterance of open defiance and determined resist¬ 
ance. Similar action was taken in other counties, and the whole 
was ratified and made national by the Continental Congress. 

This body, though sitting with closed doors, at once sent a 
copy of the resolves, with their action upon the same, to the 
“ Philadelphia Packet ” for publication. It was unanimously re¬ 
solved that they deeply feel for the sufferings of their country¬ 
men in Massachusetts under the operation of the late cruel, 
oppressive, and unjust acts of the British Parliament; that they 
entirely approve of the wisdom and fortitude with which oppo¬ 
sition to these wicked ministerial measures have been conducted; 
that they earnestly recommend a perseverance in the same firm 
and temperate conduct as expressed in these resolutions; also 
recommending that the resolutions of the Suffolk Convention 
be published for the information and benefit of the country. 

The Tory papers of the day were filled with comments on the 
action of this Continental Congress. Among many is the fol¬ 
lowing : — 

As soon as they received by express an authentic copy of the Suffolk 
Resolves, they broke through all secrecy, and at once gave such a blast on 
the trumpet of sedition as made one-half of America tremble. 

Quotations from the British press of the day are of similar 
tenor. A writer of the times says : — 

The friends of America have the satisfaction to learn that the Resolves 
of the late Continental Congress respecting the votes of the County of Suf¬ 
folk published in the English papers here not only surprised, but confounded 
the ministry, as by it they perceive the Union of the Colonies to be complete, 
and their present menaces only mark their despair. 


430 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


LEXINGTON ALARM. 


The first bloodshed of the war was at the massacre in King 
street, Boston, on the evening of March 5, 1770, when a party 
of soldiers, belonging to His Majesty’s 29th Regiment, fired into 
the inhabitants of the town. At the trial of Capt. Preston, 
Nov. 27, 1770, Samnel Davenport and Joseph Houghton, of Mil- 
ton, were accepted on the jury, after twenty-one talesmen had 
been challenged. From this time popular excitement continued 
to increase, until it again culminated in open bloodshed at Lex¬ 
ington, on the morning of April 19, 1775; and on the evening 
of that day “ the King’s Governor and the King’s Army found 
themselves closely beleagued in Boston.” 

When the British troops emerged from Boston on the night 
of the 18th, more than one Paul Revere was on the alert. The 
alarm spiead from house to house in Milton; fifty-one of her 
citizens sprang to arms, and, joining their gallant leader, Capt. 
Ebenezer Tucker, marched to intercept the enemy. On the 
muster-roll of the company, here given, appear the ancestors of 
many of our fellow-citizens, whose hearts cannot but thrill with 
exultation at the recital of such heroic deeds. 

Muster-Roll of Capt Ebenezer Tucker’s Company of Militia in Milton, that 
traveled eight miles from and eight miles to their homes in consequence of 
the alarm on the 19 of April, 1775, and served in defence of the Colony 
against the Ministerial troops before the Standing Army was completed: — 
Capt. Ebenezer Tucker Joseph Clap 

1st Lieut. Ralph Houghton Nathan Badcock 



2d “ William Pierce 
f John Gulliver 


Benjamin Horton 
Ebenezer Horton 
Simeon Horton 
Yose Crane 
Henry Crane Jr. 
Brinsmead Hunt 
Joseph Shepard 
John Badcock 
John Crehore 
Edward Read 
Joseph Scott 
Benjamin Badcock 
Daniel Sumner 
Nathaniel Gulliver 
Silas Crane 
Benjamin Henshaw 
Samuel Henshaw 
William Tucker 
Nathaniel Shepard 
George Badcock 
Jonathan Merrifield 
Abner Hunt 
Benjamin Fenno 4 th 


Joshua Glover—drummer 
Joseph Houghton 
Ebenezer Houghton Jr. 
Andrew Dunison 
Perin Daniel 
Enos Sumner 
Amariah Blake 
Ebenezer Tucker Jr. 
Joshua Yose 
Elijah Houghton 
Joshua Tucker 
Noah Damon 
Ziba Blake 
Robert Merrifield 
John Salter 
Nathan Ford 


WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 


431 


Andrew Kennedy, who then kept tavern in Scott’s Woods, 
was on his way to the Lexington battle, with three of his sons. 
His wife, on learning that there had been a battle, was full of 
anxiety and distress all the next day about her absent ones. 

William Sumner, of Brush Hill, left his home for the battle. 
Other Milton men hurried separately to the scene of conflict. 

REGIMENT ENTERTAINED IN MILTON. 

Daniel Yose, of Milton, was a man of great energy, quick in 
thought and action, and ready for every good work. 

At this time he was first lieutenant of a company under the 
command of Lemuel Robinson. 

When the news of the Lexington fight reached Milton, on the 
morning of the 19th, Capt. Robinson hastened to Weymouth 
to secure from Gen. Lovell marching orders. Lieut. Yose, 
impatient of delay at so critical a moment, got the company 
together and marched off ; but on reaching the river they found 
the bridge destroyed, and were compelled to retrace their 
march. 

Learning afterwards that the planks had been taken from 
the bridge and piled up on the Cambridge side, and were again 
put in place, Mr. Yose started on horseback for the point 
where the troops were collecting, under the impression that, 
from the suddenness of the call, provisions might be short and 
the weary soldier be suffering from hunger. 

He conferred with the general in command in regard to food, 
and at once agreed to take a regiment to Milton and keep them 
over from Saturday till Monday morning. 

He hurried home, left orders with Davenport, the baker, to 
fill his ovens with bread as soon as possible, as he was to enter¬ 
tain a regiment of soldiers; then he sent two or three men 
on horseback to the farmers of Milton, requesting them to kill 
sheep and bring them in. 

In the basement under his large store was an old-fashioned 
fireplace for eight-foot wood; here he hung up three large 
kettles, and filled them with chocolate, so that by the time the 
troops arrived he was provided with an abundance of bread 
and chocolate. Supplied with tin dippers from his capa¬ 
cious store, the soldiers marched in through the basement, 
received their rations of bread and chocolate, and filed out. He 
secured quarters for the officers among the families of Milton. 
The soldiers were quartered in the attic of the store and in 
other buildings near by. Thus a regiment was provided for in a 
trying time. 


432 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


MILTON MILITARY COMPANIES. 

To such an extent had our fathers been engaged in military- 
duty by reason of the frequent wars, that every man’s next 
neighbor seemed to be either general, colonel, or captain. 

The citizens of the town had been ranged in companies, the 
military organization having received careful attention, but yet 
it was not perfected when the critical hour arrived. 

Jan 23. 1775. Voted that every man in this town between the a^es of 
16 and 60 years shall be equipped with arms and ammunition according to 
law, and shall do military duty in one of the Companies raised, or that 
may be raised in the town. 

At a later date those liable to military duty were divided into 
three companies. 

Voted — that every man in this town, from 16 to 60 shall have liberty 
to join himself to either of the three companies in this Town as they shall 
severally choose, and shall submit to the superior officers. 

We have been able to secure the muster-rolls of these three 
companies; also that of the company of Capt. Josiah Yose, 
that guarded the sea-shore, April, 1776, in which are enrolled all 
the able-bodied men then living in Milton. 

See also in the chapter on “ Milton Hill ” the account, in the 
Badcock family, of Capt. William Badcock and his company of 
Milton men. 

Milton Deem. 21 1775 

Muster Roll of Capt. John Bradleys Company of the Militia of Milton of 
Col. Lemuel Robinson’s Regiment that served seventeen days as a standing 
Company in the defence of American Liberty before the standing Army was 
compleated after Concord Fight 


Capt John Bradley 

1 st Lieut Benjamin Vose 
2 d “ Wm Davenport 
Sergt Am a Tucker 

“ David Tucker 

“ Elijah Keys 

“ Isaac Davenport 
Corp. Jere Tucker 

“ Eli Sumner 

“ Jaz r Ford 

“ Lem. Canadey 

Drummer John Fadden 

& 


Privates Benj. Crane 

Moses Fairbank 
Philip Smith 
Nathaniel Daniel 
Jacob Copeland 
W m Sherar 
James Shaw 
Eben. Crane 
Jn° Box Bronsdon 
Clem Sumner 
Henry Weld 
Eph. Niles 
Isaac Tucker 
Eben Fenno 


Fifer 


Lemuel Gulliver 





WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 


433 


Privates Lewis Miller Privates Thos Crane Jr 


Silas Houton 

Benj Sumner 

Rufus Houton 

Thos Glover 

Am a Sumner 

John Clark 

John Field 

Geo. Tucker 

John Thompson 

Jos Tucker Jr. 

Joseph Davenport 

Tim 0 Crehore 

Benj a Davenport 

Stephen Crane 

David Mero 

John Heed 

Seth Houghton 

David Sumner Jr 

Nath. Houghton 

Lemuel Spurr 

Nath Pitcher 

Benj Brownsdon 

Jos Dali 

Elijah Snow 

Benj a Kennedy 

Seth Crane 

Jno. Crane 

Job Sumner 

Thos Dougal 

Rufus Babcock 

Henry Crane 

Joseph Fenno 

Henry Yose Jr 

W ra Crehore 

Jos Sumner 

John Ruggles. 

Sam. Yose 


Whole number 66. They were eleven miles from Milton, and served 
seventeen days. 

Muster Roll of Capt Daniel Yoses Company of the Train in Milton of 
Col. Robinsons Regiment that traveled to Roxbury and served as a Stand¬ 
ing Company in the defence of Liberty before the Standing Army was corn- 
pleated after the battle of Concord. 


Capt 

Daniel Yose 

Matrosses Elisha Horton 

If Lieut. 

Elijah Yose 

Stepb Fowler 

2 a “ 

Thomas Pierce 

John Bussey 

3 d “ 

John Swift 

Lem Adams 

4 th “ 

Ezra Badlam 

George Minot 

Sergt 

Joseph Badcock 

Sam. Kilton 

John Melius 

Micah Simmons 

“ 

John Robinson 

Rufus Pierce 

Sergt. 

Stephen Badlam. 

Elisha Badcock 

Corp. 

Lemuel How 

Joseph Blake 

Elisha Davenport 

Caleb Howard 

“ 

William Cocks 

Thos Tileston 

“ 

James Robinson 

Charles King 

Drummer 

Aaron Bird 

Increase Blake 

Fifer 

W m Badlam 

Thomas Pierce 

“ 

Amariah Miller 

Thos Robinson 

Matrosses Robert Pierce 

Edward Foster 

Joseph Hunt 

Sam Swift 

Cha s Pierce 

Sam Preston 

Joseph Turner 

Samuel Tucker 

Moses How 

Daniel Stodder 
Sami. Blackman 
Pelatiah Hull 
Lemuel Randall 
John King 

John Savill 

Sam Randell 
Daniel W iswall 
Thomas Yose 


Whole number 51. Time of service from one to three months. Feb. 10, 
1776. 


434 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Muster Roll of Capt. Oliver Vose’s Company of the Militia of Milton of 
Col. Robinsons Regiment that traveled to Roxbury and served as a Standing 
Company in the defence of Liberty before a Standing Army was compleated 
after the battle of Concord. 


Capt. 

Oliver Yose 

Privates Nath. Rawson 

Lieut. 

W m Babcock 

James Blake 

Ensign 

Phinehas Paine 

Nath Horton 

Sergt. 

Bill Yose 

John Marshal 

“ 

Andrew Adams 

Lemuel Billings 


Enoch Horton 

Ebenezer Badcock 

“ 

W m Yoce 

Hezekiah Millan 

Corp. 

Nath. Keys 

Gershom Gulliver 

Seth Packherd 

Silas Hunt 


Elijah Wadsworth 

Joshua Henshaw 

“ 

Jonathan Voce 

Jon a Field 

Drummer 

Elijah Horton 

Joshua Tucker 

Fifer 

John Vose 

Ithamar Badcock 

Privates 

Stephen Badcock 

John Adams 


Nehemiah Clap 

Lemuel Gulliver 


Stephen Clap 

W m Bartlett 


Edward Kelton 

Stephen Horton 


Elijah Horton Jr. 

Sami Horton 


Nathan Vose 

Henry Millar 


Benj. Badcock Jr. 

Rufus Sumner 


Dyer Rawson 

Henry Jones 


Barth w Pierce 

Thomas Lyon 


John Salter 

Josiah Marshal 

Moses Arnold 

Whole 

home. 

number 47. Time 

of service fifteen days. Eight m 


As the towns along the harbor were greatly exposed to in¬ 
cursions from the ships of the enemy, on petition of Dorchester, 
Milton, Braintree, and Weymouth the Council decided, April 
12, 1776, “to raise a regiment of 728 men for fortifying the 
harbor of Boston at the entrance thereof.” The Milton com¬ 
pany was under the command of Capt. Josiah Yose. 


Muster Roll of Capt Josiah Voses Company of the Militia in Milton that 
guarded the Sea Shores twelve days from 13 th of April to the 26 th 1776. 


Capt 

Josiah Yose 

Privates Elijah Yose 

Lieut 

Joseph Jones 

Ebenezer Houghton 

“ 

John Gulliver 

Benjamin Crane 

Sergt. 

Benj Yose 

Seth Crane 

“ 

Moses Fairbank 

Jonathan Yose 


Isaac Davenport 

John Ruggles 

“ 

Elijah Keyes 

Cornelius Gulliver 

Corp. 

Joseph Houghton 

Elam Pratt 

“ 

Ebenezr Badcock 

Enoch Ludden 

“ 

Gersham Gulliver 

William Horton 

“ 

Jeremiah Tucker 

Ithamar Badcock 


WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 


435 


Privates Jonathan Field Privates John Box Brondson 


Andrew Canadey 

Edward Adams 

Andrew Dunningham 

Samuel Tucker Jr 

Phinehas Paine 

Sami Calef 

Nehemiah Clapp 

Ebenezer Tucker Jr 

Adam Davenport 

Henry Miller 

John Peason 

Ebenezer Sumner 

James Read 

W m Tucker 

Henry Weld 

Josiah Marshall 

Amariah Crane 

Elijah Houghton 

Chipman Bangs 

Isaac Tucker 

John Swift 

Lemuel Canaday 

Benjamin Bronsden 

Benj Canaday 

John Badcock 

Silas Hunt 

Jeremiah Crane 

John Marshall Jr 

Samuel Swift 

John Berry 

John Bent 

W m Yose 

Henry Crane Jr 

Nath. Ford 

Benj. Fenno 

John Crehore 

Jedediah Crehore 

W m Walker 

Henry Yose Jr. 

Joseph Cummings 

Thos Dugel 

Benj Badcock Jr 

Elijah Pope 

Joseph Brown 

Timothy Crehore 

Moses Glover 

Ephraim Mies 

Jonathan Glover 

Jonathan Tante 

David Tucker 

Lemuel Spur 

Uriah Snow 

Nathaniel Davenport 

Simon Horton 

Richard Jordan 

Joseph Shepard 

Joseph Scott 

Nathaniel Shepard 

Samuel Chelton 

Lemuel Gulliver 

Ebenezer Crosby 

Samuel Badcock 

Benj Henshaw 

James Brazer 

Joseph Dali 

Ebenezer Warren 

Jeremiah Ford 

Ebenezer Bent 

Amariah Tucker 

Joshua Bellice 

George Tucker 

Samuel Billings 

Robert Merrifield 

David Sumner Jr 

W m Gould 

Jabie Sumner 

Amaria Sumner 

Samuel Hunt 

Zibie Blake 

Stephen Clapp 

Joseph Tucker Jr 

Silas Houghton 

Joseph Calef 

Ebenezer Williams 

Joseph Sumner 

Eli Sumner 

John Bradley 


Whole number 110; many of this company served in the other Milton 
companies. 


MAJOR VOSE’s RAID. 

On the 27th of May, 1775, Major Joseph Vose collected a 
force of sixty men and proceeded down the harbor of Boston, 
where they cut and carried off the barley and grain from Nan- 
tasket and the islands. They entered the light-house at the 


436 


HISTORY OF MILTON, 


entrance of Boston harbor, removed the lamps, and destroyed 
the building. Ensign William Sumner, of Brush Hill, was in 
command of one of the boats. Abijah Crane, of Milton, was in 
the party. Bancroft says : “ They brought away a field-piece 
and a swivel. The boats of a British man-of-war, which lay 
within a mile, pursued the adventurous party, but they were 
in whale-boats and escaped by rowing.” 


DORCHESTER HEIGHTS. 

At the fortification of Dorchester Heights, which compelled 
the British evacuation of Boston, Milton turned out en masse. 

As the ground was frozen it became necessary to construct 
the breastwork in part from fascines. The fascines were cut 
from Capt. John Homan’s (afterwards the Sumner) farm, about 
a mile from Mattapan, towards Dedham. General Washington, 
with his wonted foresight, selected this obscure spot to make 
ready materials for the anticipated emergency. In the fall of 
1775 a lieutenant and thirty privates were engaged in cutting 
and binding the white-birch and swamp brush. These were 
removed to Little Neck, and about three hundred teams were 
employed on that eventful night in transporting them to the 
heights, and in other needful work. The teams of Milton were 
under the charge of Mr. James Boies, of this town. Scott’s 
Woods farmers were there. Brush Hill farmers vied with them 
in the faithful labors of that busy night. Not a word was 
spoken; the teams, with muffled chains and wheels, worked 
almost without guidance, seeming to take in the situation. 
Rev. Dr. J. Thomas Tucker, grandson of Samuel Tucker, of 
Scott’s Woods, in a recent letter says : — 

My grandfather was there with his team. I have often heard my father 
tell how well the oxen did their tasks in the enforced silence, without a 
word of direction or urging, as if they knew what we needed, and were 
glad to do it. 

Capt. John Bradlee was there with a new company of Milton 
men. 


A Muster Roll of Capt John Bradleys Company of the Militia of 
Milton in Col. Benjamin Gills Regiment that marched to Dorchester Neck 
on the 4 th of March 1776 to the assistance of the Army when the forts 
were erected on the hills of Dorchester Neck, 


Capt. John Bradley 

1 st Lieut. Phinehas Payne 
2 d “ John Swift 
Sergt. Ebenezer Williams 


Sergt. William Davenport 
“ Moses Fairbank 
Corp Jeremiah Tucker 

“ Jonathan Yose 


WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 


437 


Corp John Gulliver 
“ Elijah Houghton 

Drummer Ephraim Niles 
Fifer Lemuel Gulliver 
Privates Hugh McLane 


Privates John Pearson 


Joseph Houghton 
Henry Miller 
Edward Read 
Silas Hunt 
Ebenezer Badcock 
John Box Bronsdon 
Lemuel Canadey 
Joshua Glover 
Henry Wild 
Eli Sumner 
Uriah Snow 
Jeremiah Crane 
Joseph Dali 
Samuel Swift 
Elijah Keys 
Benjamin Crane 
Beni. Canadev 
W m . Clap 


James Read 
Seth Crane 
John Ruggles 
Jonathan field 
Enoch Ludder 
Amariah Crane 
Oliver Houghton 
Cheapman Bangs 
John Marshall Jr 
Ithamar Badcock 
George Tucker 
Jazaniah Ford 
Ebenezer Houghton 
Gershom Gulliver 
John Bent 
Nehemiah Clapp 
Solomon Weld 
Ziba Blake 
Rupert Horton 
Ebenezer Fenno 
Ebenezer Tucker Jr 
W m Tucker 


Whole number 54. Marched 9 miles. Time of service 5 days. 

The fortification of Dorchester Heights was followed by the 
evacuation of Boston. General Howe’s army of eight thousand 
troops and a train of adherents sailed for Halifax in a hundred 
and twenty vessels. 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


At a legal town meeting held May 28 1776 Voted that Mr. Ralph 
Houghton, Doctor Samuel Gardiner, and Capt James Boies be a commit¬ 
tee to draw up instructions for the Representatives of this town and to lay 
the same before the town at this meeting. 

Accordingly the said Committee laid the following before the town viz. 

Whereas George the Third, King of Great Britain, forgetting his 
dignity, regardless of the compact most solemnly entered into, ratified and 
confirmed by the inhabitants of this Colony, and entirely departing from 
the duty of a good King, instead of protecting is endeavoring to destroy 
the good people of this Colony — Voted that our Representatives be in¬ 
formed that if the Continental Congress declare the united Colonies of 
North America Independent of Great Britain, we will support it with our 
lives and fortunes and that they are directed to act accordingly in the 
General Assembly. 

Voted that the foregoing report be accepted by the Town. 


SUBSEQUENT ORDERS. 


As three Continental Regiments have by orders of Gen. Washington 
marched to the southward — and most of the men in the other two are sick 
with the small pox, Ordered that Gen. Warren be empowered to issue his 


438 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


orders immediately that the Militia in the towns of Braintree Milton Dor¬ 
chester Brookline & Roxbury be ready at a minutes warning to repair to 
the heights of Doi’chester and Castle Island. — State Archives. 

Sep. 22. 1777 Milton with other towns ordered to furnish fire wood for 
the troops about Boston. 

SCATTERING OF MILTON MEN. 

After the British left Boston the seat of war was removed 
from this immediate vicinity. The army that had collected 
about Boston during the siege of that place was adopted by the 
Continental Congress as the Continental Army, and General 
Washington was appointed Commander-in-Chief. From that 
time the troops of Milton were absorbed in the Continental 
Army, and scattered in the different regiments till the end of 
the war. 

In 1777 Captain Bradlee, of Milton, in Col. Benj. Gill’s regi¬ 
ment, marched to the northward department, Manchester, State 
of Vermont, two hundred and forty miles from home, on four 
months’ service. His company of seventy-four contained many 
Milton men. 

EXTREME POVERTY. 

To meet the ever-recurring demands for volunteers and rein¬ 
forcements during these years of struggle, and keep her quota 
full, all the young men of the town and all the able-bodied 
men under sixty years were in the army. In many cases entire 
families, the fathers with their sons, were thus engaged. Only 
the aged and infirm men and the women were left to carry on 
the farms and to provide for the necessities of families, as well 
as to meet the calls for the support of a famished army. A 
truthful description of the extreme poverty that prevailed in 
Milton, as well as in other towns, during this war would now be 
thought an extravagant narrative. I have the assurance from 
living citizens, who learned it from their grandfathers through 
the testimony of their own fathers, that flour, tea, coffee, sugar, 
and other articles of food now thought necessary, were luxuries 
seldom indulged in. The best and most worthy families of 
Milton lived on such products of their farms as could not 
readily be turned into money. Potatoes, corn-bread, and milk 
served as the chief articles of diet day after day. Their apparel 
was what could be spun, wove, and made up by the busy and 
industrious hands of the mothers and daughters. But their 
spirit was not broken nor was their ardor chilled by hardships 
and sufferings. The mothers and daughters at home inspired 
the absent fathers and brothers with hope and courage in the 
darkest times. 


WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 


439 


This indomitable spirit wrought out the salvation of our 
country. 


RETURNS IN 1777- 

Return of Select men of Milton of number of male inhabitants 16 years 
old and upwards, as follows : — 


White males 16 years old and upwards at home & about . . 258 

Male inhabitants of the Town of Boston driven from their homes 

since the blocade of Boston.13 

Male negroes and molattos.17 


The names of the above inhabitants of Boston are as follows : Ebenezer 
Williams, William Walker, Jacob Gill, John Barray, John Barray Jr. 
Thomas Howard, Spencer Vose, Joshua Bellows, John Hooper, John Hood 
Joseph Kent, Henry Miller, Ebenezer Topliff. 

Milton, Jan. 27, 1777 


Ebenezer Tucker 
Joseph Clapp 
Amariah Blake. 


■Select Men 
of Milton. 


LEADING MEN OF THE WAR. 

Gren. Joseph Vose. — General Vose was born in Milton, Dec. 
7,1739; died here, May 22, 1816, on the estate which had been 
in possession of the family since 1654. 

He was chosen colonel of the District 
Militia in November, 1774, and was also 
major in General Heath’s division. He 
was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of 
Greaton’s (24th) Regiment, Nov. 4, 

1775, and accompanied it after the evac¬ 
uation of Boston to Canada; commis¬ 
sioned colonel, 1st Mass. Regiment, 

21st of February, 1777, and joined the 
main army, under Washington, in New 
Jersey, a few weeks later; was present at 
Monmouth, and in Sullivan’s campaign, 

Rhode Island, in 1778. Feb. 17, 1781, he was appointed 
colonel of a regiment of light infantry, with which he partici¬ 
pated in the siege of Yorktown and surrender of Cornwallis. 
At the close of the war he was made brigadier-general by 
brevet. His after-life was passed on his native farm in Mil- 
ton, where his descendants now live. A long letter from 
Lafayette is preserved by his family. He was an original 
member of the Cincinnati. 

Col. Elijah Vose, brother of Joseph, was lieutenant-colonel in 
the same regiment in the Revolution, and served through the 



VOSE OOAT OF ARMS. 




440 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


war, as did also two other brothers,— Moses and Bill, — who 
held important stations, the latter being a paymaster. 

We find in the “ Columbian Centinel” the following obituary 
notice of Col. Elijah Yose, dated March 23, 1822 : — 

In Milton, Col. Elijah Yose, aged 78. Col. V., immediately on the alarm 
of the memorable 19th of April, 1775 (he having previously acquired a 
knowledge of military tactics), repaired to the post of danger, where he 
remained till the organization of the American army, when he received a 
Commission, and engaged as one of the band of heroes, and continued till 
the objects of his country were attained and American Independence 
established. He sustained a good reputation in the army from the Com- 
mander-in-Chief to the private, and passed through a regular gradation of 
promotion till at the close of the war he sustained the rank of Lieut.- 
Colonel of the 1st Mass. Regiment of infantry, and fairly ranked among 
those military patriots who had acted well their part, and deserved much of 
their country. At the close of this service he returned to his native town 
(Milton), and devoted his labors exclusively to husbandry, which was his 
favorite pursuit to the last. 


SHAYS’ REBELLION. 

This period of intense activity was followed by a period of 
exhaustion. 

The excitement was over, and a reaction succeeded. The 
burden of a heavy debt oppressed individuals, corporations, and 
the new States. Suspension of commerce and manufacture, 
scarcity of money, and the depreciated condition of the circulat¬ 
ing medium rendered it impossible to meet the demands of 
creditors. There seems to have been a sufficiency of property, 
but ready money could not be realized; and a general feeling 
prevailed that some method should be devised by which debts 
and taxes could be met without having estates sacrificed and 
sold under the hammer. The attempt in Massachusetts to sup¬ 
port its credit led a portion of her citizens, not without the 
sympathy of a much larger portion, by armed mobs to close the 
courts of justice, and thus prevent legal measures for the col¬ 
lection of taxes and debts. This movement was led by Daniel 
Shays, made famous in the doggerel verse of the times: — 

“ My name is Shays, 

In former days 
In Pelham I did dwell, sir; 

I was obliged to quit that place 
Because I did rebel, sir.” 

The insurrection broke out early in 1787. Four thousand 
troops were detailed, under the command of General Lincoln, 
to suppress the outbreak. 










WAR OF 1812. 


441 


In i v of Capt. James Robinson, of- Col. Ezra Bad- 

fafia's . rr many Dorchester men, among whom was*. 

. and the following Milton men: — 

John Gareli, 

Ziba Crane, 

Shepherd Bent,’ 

Vose Crane, 

Samuel Badcock. 

Joseph Fenno, and 
Samuel Richards. 

i * .. y. u.ts w^e 'dispersed. Fourteen of the leaders were 
o, lut-niartjal, Und condemned to death, all of whom 
.Ultimately pardoned. By the prudence and dSfcision of 
i.iovomor Bowdoin tl}e lawless were restrained, and the an- 
v which threatened was. happily prevented. 


^ Sergeants, 


WAR OF }812. 

Col. Josiah K. Y*>se« of Milton, son‘of Gen. Joseph Vose, 
entered the army /s captain *3n this war, and was engaged in 
important service 4t Portsmouth, Sackett’s Harbor, and in 
( utada. He was often in great danger, and many, of his men 
killed around Mm. At the close of the war he was p^p- 
to the rank <3f major. His acquaintance with General 
r, began at this time, and the friendship lasted through life. 

. 1 : ' • • 

: ! in Florida, and was Ultimately associated with Gen. Zacfhary 
:'or. At the time of mis' death he was colonel of the'4th 
}:mtry ; and General Grant, who graduated at West Point in 
; :*4A was appointed second lieutenant in his regiment. His 
t h occurred’very suddenly in New; Orleans, July 15, 1845. 

Mil top men were^e enrolled in companies, and w,ere liable to 
duty in this war;.but few were in actual service. 

\ Milton companywith the following officers, John Lillie, 
' -rfain^^Danier Briggs, lieutenant, and Samuel Reed, ensign, 
>* ,js jardeTed at 3’ o’clpek* iVM.,' Sunday, to inarch to -Gohas- 
v here the §ngmyV troops were expected to land. A 
: .v ts de tailed to make oaf (ridges at the powder-house, and 
. vas delegated to 1'orvVard ammunition to the com- 

•. ;1 j-ey mafclied to Hingham,’and there learned'that their 
.JVM ■ • uu'i* not required. A second company from the west 
p u t ■ lowip-mider^Capt/ Frank Davefnport, started on the 
Ml f « A* tiop. 











WAR OF 1812. 


441 


In the company of Capt. James Robinson, of Col. Ezra Bad- 
lam’s regiment, were many Dorchester men, among whom was 
Edmund Baker, and the following Milton men: — 

Jacob Gill, Lieut. 

Jesse Sumner, 

Alexander Yose, 

Luther Crane, 

Samuel Williams, 

Moses Belcher, 

The insurgents were dispersed. Fourteen of the leaders were 
tried by court-martial, and condemned to death, all of whom 
were ultimately pardoned. By the prudence and decision of 
Governor Bowdoin the lawless were restrained, and the an¬ 
archy which, threatened was happily prevented. 


John Garch, 

Ziba Crane, 
Shepherd Bent, 
Yose Crane, 
Samuel Badcock, 
Joseph Fenno, and 
Samuel Richards. 


WAR OF 1812. 

Col. Josiah H. Yose, of Milton, son of Gen. Joseph Yose, 
entered the army as captain in this war, and was engaged in 
important service at Portsmouth, Sackett’s Harbor, and in 
Canada. He was often in great danger, and many of his men 
were killed around him. At the close of the war he was pro¬ 
moted to the rank of major. His acquaintance with General 
Scott began at this time, and the friendship lasted through life. 
Colonel Yose afterwards had important commands at the West 
and in Florida, and was intimately associated with Gen. Zachary 
Taylor. At the time of his death he was colonel of the 4th 
Infantry ; and General Grant, who graduated at West Point in 
1843, was appointed second lieutenant in his regiment. His 
death occurred very suddenly in New Orleans, July 15, 1845. 

Milton men were enrolled in companies, and were liable to 
duty in this war; but few were in actual service. 

A Milton company, with the following officers, John Lillie, 
captain, Daniel Briggs, lieutenant, and Samuel Reed, ensign, 
was ordered at 3 o’clock, P.M., Sunday, to march to Cohas- 
set, where the enemy’s troops were expected to land. A 
squad was detailed to make cartridges at the powder-house, and 
Dr. Glover was delegated to forward ammunition to the com¬ 
pany. They marched to Hingham, and there learned that their 
services were not required. A second company from the west 
part of the town, under Capt. Frank Davenport, started on the 
same expedition. 



442 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


In this war there was a company of the principal men of 
Milton who were too old to be drafted, called “Exempts.” 
Gen. Joseph Yose, then seventy-three years of age, was chosen 
captain, and Jazaniah Ford first lieutenant. Their duty was 
to watch the development of events at home, and to be ready 
for any emergency. The company was disbanded at the close 
of the war. 

Major Joshua Tucker, son of Samuel Tucker, of Scott’s 
Woods, held a commission from Governor Strong as major of 
Massachusetts Militia. One Saturday, as a British cruiser ap¬ 
peared off Boston harbor, with the supposed purpose of land¬ 
ing, Major Tucker received orders to be ready at a moment’s 
warning to march to the coast. He accordingly mustered his 
troops at his tavern in Scott’s Woods, where they spent most of 
the following Sunday, sharpening their swords on the neighbors’ 
grindstones and moulding bullets for their horse-pistols; the 
women of the house and neighborhood melting the lead in 
ladles over the kitchen fires. The enemy, however, sailed away 
down the coast, and the troopers were dismissed. 


THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 

“ Four hundred thousand men, the brave, the good, the true, 

In tangled wood, in mountain glen, 

On battled plain, in prison pen, 

Lie dead for me and you; 

Four hundred thousand of the brave, 

Have made our ransomed soil their grave 
For me and you, — 

Good friend, for me and you.” 

[.Inscription at Arlington Cemetery .] 


The events of this war have scarcely ripened into history. 
The heroes of its well-fought battles we meet in daily converse, 
and on the graves of its fallen worthies we strew the flowers of 
every opening spring. 

Most of those in middle life, and all the aged, remember the 
wave of enthusiastic loyalty that swept over the Northern States 
at the fall of Fort Sumter. Then followed the call for seventy- 
five thousand troops, and the quick response. Four days from 
that call the Sixth Massachusetts, in which were some of our 
Milton hoys, was fighting its way to Washington, through the 
streets of Baltimore, and left its martyrs there. Fourteen days 
from that first call three hundred thousand men, terribly in 
earnest, had rallied round the flag of their country. 

So fresh are those days in our minds that they seem hut as 



T1IE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 


443 


yesterday. The memories of great and thrilling battles crowd 
upon us, when the fearful contest raged with varying fortune, 
and our hearts were stirred to their profoundest depths. We 
recall the sudden intelligence of the sickness of dear ones far 
away, of the wounded, and of the killed ; the startling telegram ; 
the hurried departure of father or brother to the distant suf¬ 
ferer, or to bear home the precious remains; and then the funeral 
service in our churches, where all joined in common sorrow and 
sympathy, and the silent and tearful gatherings around these 
flag-marked graves. 

In this war Milton, true to her former history, was prompt in 
action and decided in purpose. In no instance during this 
protracted struggle did the town fail to furnish her full quota 
of troops. The resources of the town, more ample than in 
early years, were liberally appropriated for the benefit of those 
who were fighting her battles, and for the comfort of their 
families; while her wealthy citizens freely gave their sons to 
the great cause, and as freely volunteered their time, and, when 
occasion required, drew upon their own estates to relieve the 
overtaxed energies of the country. 

All over our town earnest hearts and willing hands were 
eagerly engaged in providing for the safety and comfort of 
fathers, brothers, and sons, exposed and suffering, on the march, 
in camp, and in battle. 1 


1 Report of the Milton Branch of the Sanitary Commission. 

Mrs. F. Cunningham and Mrs. F. M. Davis, Managers, appointed for the Sanitary 
Commission by the New England Woman’s Auxiliary Association, present the following 
report for the years 1862 and 1863. The report states, that since the branch has existed, 


there has been contributed, to January 1, 1864, the sum of $4,014 68 

Amount expended.3,902 39 

Balance on hand.$112 29 


The Managers observe : “ This money has been expended for material and express- 
age. Other sums have been contributed by various persons to pay for the making up of 
garments by women needing help. Of sums thus expended we can give no account. In 
addition to the money, a bale of flannel and several pieces of other goods, also yarn, 
socks, and mittens, have been given.” 

It is proper to state that the sum of $204.79 was the proceeds of a fair, by a few chil¬ 
dren at the house of Mrs. E. Cunningham, Milton Hill. Also the sum of $107.30 from 
young persons at the Railway Village, the proceeds of dramatic exhibitions at the house 
of Mr. Hollis. 

Other reports from different sections of the town are here condensed into one. The 
results of the whole are exhibited as follows: — 


84 pairs Flannel Drawers, 
1519 pairs Cotton “ 

790 pairs Woollen Socks, 
12 pairs Cotton “ 

50 pairs Woollen Mittens, 
84 pairs Slippers, 

885 Flannel Shirts, 

554 Cotton “ 


34 Flannel Double-Gowns, 
42 Double Calico “ 

4 Wadded 

4 Goat’s-Hair “ 

679 Handkerchiefs, 

725 Towels, 

33 Napkins, 

309 Sheets, 






444 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


No historic page in ancient or modern times can present 
names surpassing in all that constitutes distinguished general¬ 
ship, or dauntless heroism and true, undying love of country, 
the names of many of our leaders and myriads of our soldiers 
in this conflict. 

It is proposed to place on record, as a simple tribute of grati¬ 
tude, a brief memorial of our fellow-citizens who fell in the war, 
or who died in immediate connection therewith ; together with 
a notice of all Milton soldiers of the war who have since passed 
away, and who now repose in our cemetery, to he followed by 
a complete list of the names of all in the quota of Milton who, 
for any length of time, served their country in this time of her 
greatest peril. 


19 Pillows of various sizes, 
94 Pillow Ticks, 

259 Pillow Cases, 

2 Bedquilts, 

6 Comforters, 

3 Vests, 

2 Havelocks, 

6 Sleeping Caps, 

34 Slings, 

655 Bandages, 

S bbls. of Bandages, 

3 bbls. of Lint, 

62 boxes Lint, 

3 doz. Fans, 

1 Mosquito Net, 


2 kegs and 3 Bottles Pickles, 

25 cans Jellies, 

12 pots Preserves, 

2 jars Raspberries, 

3 cans Preserved Tomatoes, 

3 cans Preserved Beans, 

56 bottles Raspberry Vinegar, 

31 bottles Currant Shrub and Vinegar, 
2 bottles Elderberry Wine, 

6 bottles Blackberry Syrup, 

1 bottle Tomato Condiment, 

1 box Lemon Syrup, 

2 bbls. Dried Apples, 

4 doz. Eggs. 


Farina, Chocolate, Cherry Brandy, Ravelenta, Soup, Cologne, Jellies, and Shrubs in 
abundance. 

Compresses, old Linen, Coats, Pants, Vests, Sheets, Pillow Cases, Towels, Handker¬ 
chiefs, &c., in large quantities. 

Books, Newspapers, and Pamphlets. 

Eight bbls. Fruit and Vegetables for Morris Island. 

One bbl. and one large box containing Pillows, Pillow Cases, Bedquilts, Bed Linen, 
Shirts, Dressing-Gowns, Socks, Mittens, Bandages, Lint, Compresses, Books, Papers, and 
Stationery, sent to the Sanitary Rooms, Boston. 

One box containing Shirts, Pillow Cases, 1,500 bunches Lint, 235 Bandages, and other 
useful articles, to Dr. Miller. 

One box containing 65 Shirts, 250 Bandages, 1,200 bunches Lint, and a large quantity 
of Compresses, to F. Mann, at the Hospital. 

Also, Socks, Towels, Bandages, and Lint, sent in a box to Dr. Cushing. In addition 
to the above, 25 pairs Woollen Socks have been knit for Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis, of 
Boston; and 75 Shirts and 75 pairs of Drawers, for the Sanitary Commission. Other 
work has been taken from the Sanitary Rooms, the amount of which is not reported. 

The Managers in their report express their gratitude to the several circles in the 
different sections of the town who have labored so cheerfully and assiduously in the 
good cause. In their closing remarks they say: — 

“ It will be seen by the foregoing statement that the amount still in the treasury is 
small. We have, however, a considerable quantity of material on hand, and shall be able 
to meet present demands for work. It is evident that without new contributions our 
work must stop. The excellency of the charity is no longer questioned, or the mode of 
applying it. We ask for pecuniary aid. We ask also for help from all parts of the town 
in making up garments. Any aid, however small, will be joyfully accepted. And surely 
those who can do but little are not thereby excused in not doing anything. We hope 
that we may be able to continue to have work ready to be given out on Thursdays, from 
9 till 1 o’clock, at the house of Mrs. F. Cunningham, Milton Hill. We constantly have 
reports sent from Boston, New York, etc., which we are anxious to circulate among 
those who are interested in the cause.” 



THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 


445 


As by death’s denuding hand all distinctions of rank are 
obliterated, so in onr list the private soldier may stand before 
his commanding officer. 

MEMORIAL OF SOLDIERS WHO DIED IN THE WAR. 

The catalogue of our fallen heroes commences with the name 
of 

George 0. Baxter. 

He was born in Boston, Jan. 21, 1840, and removed to Milton 
in childhood. He enlisted in the 1st Regt., Mass. Yols., May 
25, 1861. He was in the first battle of Bull Run and the 
battle of Williamsburg. He was killed on the second day of 
the battle of Fair Oaks, June 25, 1862, while engaged as a 
sharp-shooter, and was buried in camp, close by his old quar¬ 
ters, with two of his comrades who fell at the same time. 
The remains, it is supposed, have since been removed to Gettys¬ 
burg. The chaplain of the regiment, the late Rev. W. H. Cud- 
worth, thus wrote to his afflicted mother: “ He died in the most 
brave and gallant manner, and has left a name of which you 
may justly feel proud.” 


G-eorge F. Bent. 

He enlisted as a Milton soldier in Co. E, 7th Regt., Mass. 
Yols., June 16, 1861, and died at Brightwood, D.C., March 9, 
1862. 

Lieut. Josiah Bent , Jr. 

He was born in Weymouth, and was the son of Rev. Josiah 
Bent, at that time pastor of the First Church, Weymouth. At 
the commencement of the war he enlisted in the 1st Regt., 
Wisconsin Cavalry, then recruiting at Kenosha, Wis. In 
the second year of his service he received the commission of- 
lieutenant. He served with his regiment two years. While 
stationed at Helena, Ark., he was attacked with malarial dysen¬ 
tery, and died at Kenosha, Nov. 9, 1868. His blameless char¬ 
acter and wonderful fitness for a cavalry officer would have 
placed him high in rank, had he lived. His remains were re¬ 
moved to Milton, where they now repose in the ancestral tomb. 

Amos U. Bronsdon. 

He was born in Milton, Sept. 24, 1824, and attended our Mil- 
ton schools. He enlisted in the 18th Regt., Mass. Yols., Aug. 
7, 1862. He was in the battle of Rappahanock Station, Second 


446 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Bull Run, Chantilly, and Fredericksburg. Then he was taken 
sick and ordered home, but died at Pratt’s Landing, Va., Jan. 
19, 1863. His body was removed to Milton on the 12th of the 
following February, and now lies in our cemetery. 

William A. Buckley. 

He enlisted in Co. H, 56th Regt., Mass. Yols., Feb. 15, 1864, 
and died at Washington, D.C., May 3, 1864. 

Greorge W. Burditt. 

He enlisted in Co. E, 1st Regt., Mass. Yols., May 25, 1861. 
May 5, 1862, he was killed at Williamsburg, Ya. 

N. Stanley Everett. 

He was born in Milton, April 24, 1842, and received his edu¬ 
cation mainly in Our schools. He enlisted in the 13th Regt., 
Mass. Yols., Aug. 4, 1862. On the 12th of August the regi¬ 
ment removed to the seat of war, and on the 28th were in the 
battle of Thoroughfare Cap, where a ball passed through his 
coat and canteen. He was in the second Bull Run battle, and 
escaped unhurt. In the brief space of six weeks he marched 
with the regiment one hundred and fifty miles, and passed 
through two battles; but from constant marching and exposure 
to the night air his health failed, and he was ordered to the 
Cliffbourne Hospital, Washington, where he died of diphtheria, 
Sept. 21, 1862. While with the regiment he was kindly cared 
for by his comrade, Amos A. Bronsdon, and in the hospital 
he received the kindest sympathy from a Sister of Charity, 
whose likeness is now in the hands of his parents. His last 
words were, “ I am willing to die for my country.” His remains 
were buried in Washington, at the Soldiers’ Rest, and afterwards 
were removed to Milton, Oct. T, 1862. 

Lieut. Josiah IT. V. Field. 

He was born at Tampa Bay, Fla., in 1843. He was the 
son of Capt. George P. Field and Elizabeth Eliot, the second 
daughter of Col. Josiah H. Yose. Captain Field received his 
appointment of cadetship from Gen. Peter B. Porter, and gradu¬ 
ated July 1, 1834. In 1845 Lieutenant Field removed with his 
parents to Milton, to the house built by his great-grandfather 
before the Revolutionary War. 

When seven years of age he commenced to attend the Milton 
Academy, and continued at that school for nine years, when he 














446 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Bull Run, Chantilly, and Fredericksburg. Then he was taken 
sick and ordered home, but died at Pratt’s Landing, Va., Jan. 
19, 1868. His body was removed to Milton on the 12th of the 
following February, and now lies in our cfemctery. 

William A. Buckley. 

He enlisted in Co. H, 56th Regt., Mass. Vo; Feb. 15, 1864, 
and died at Washington, D.C., May 3, 1864. 

Gre&i'ge W. Burditr. 

He enlisted in Co. E, 1st Regt., Mass. Vols., Mav 25, 1861. 
May 5, 1862, he was killed at Williamsburg, Va. 

JV. Stanley Everett. 

He was born in Milton, April 24, 1842, and received his edu¬ 
cation mainly in our schools. He enlisted in the 18th Regt.,-' 
]\Iass. Vols,, Aug. 4, 1862. On the 12th of August'the yogi-' 
ment removed to the seat of war, and bn the 28th weye ip the ' 
battle of Thoroughfare Gap, where a ball passed rough h . 
coat and canteen- He was in the second Bull Run battle, and 
escaped unhurt.; In the brief space of six weeks he marched 
with thdRegiment 'one hundred and fifty miles, and passed 
through two battles; but from Constant mltrching and exposure 
to the niglit air his health failed, and he was* ordered to the 
Cliffbourne Hospital, Washington, where he died of diphtheria, 
Sept. 21, 1862. While with the regiment he was kindly cared 
for by his comrade, Amos A. Bronsdon, and in the hospital 
he received the kindest sympathy from a Sister of Charity, 
whose likeness is now in the hands of his parents. His last 
Words were, “ I am willing to die for my country.” His remains 
were buried in Washington, at the Soldiers’ Rest, and afterwards 
were removed to Miltorf, Oct. 7, 1862. 

■ Lieut. Josiah H. V. Field. 

He -was born at lam pa Bay, Fla., in 1843. He was* the 
son of Capt. Georg*e P. Field and Elizabeth Eliot, the second' 
daughter of Col. Josiah H. Vose. Captain Field received his 
appointment of cadetship from Gen. Peter B. Porter, and gradu¬ 
ated July 1, 1884. Jn 1845 Lieutenant Field removed with his 
parents to Milton, to the house built by his great-grandfather 
before the Revolutionary War. 

When seven years of age he commenced to attend the Milton 
Academy, and continued at that school for nine years, when he 














THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 


447 


received from the President of the United States his appoint¬ 
ment as a cadet at West Point. In 1863 he graduated, after a 
term of four years, and his standing secured him the rank of 
Lieutenant of Ordnance. 

He was at once ordered to Frankfort arsenal, Philadelphia, 
where he remained for nine months, with various and arduous 
duties. He was then ordered to the armory at Springfield, and 
after a few days received orders to report at Washington, where 
he was appointed to the very responsible position of senior 
Ordnance Officer for Western Virginia, and attended General 
Hunter in his raid through Virginia. 

In this most exhaustive campaign his duties were severe and 
overpowering; his life and energy were an overmatch for his 
physical frame, and the powers of nature were forced to suc¬ 
cumb to the mighty strain. In the last letter received from 
him he says: “ I am played out and exhausted, but my courage 
is good; I would not have missed this raid.” An officer in the 
engineer corps, writing to his mother, says: — 

Your son, with a great and noble band, and like his father before him, 
has given up his life to his country. In two actions in which he took part 
he behaved as the son of a soldier. His calmness, his courage, his energy, 
made him conspicuous at Lynchburg. He rallied our troops, about to 
break, and held them until the enemy’s charge was repulsed. 

After this he showed symptoms of exhaustion, and was put 
in the ambulance during the hasty retreat. At Cumberland 
he was alarmingly ill, and, apparently without disease, sunk 
rapidly, .and died July 14, 1864. 

His remains were brought from Cumberland and lie in 
Milton Cemetery by the side of his mother’s brother, who died 
from disease contracted in the Florida war, and was brought 
here for interment. In the same inclosure lies his grandfather, 
Col. Josiah H. Vose, who died in New Orleans as he was about 
to leave with his regiment for Mexico. 

On the stone which marks the resting-place of Lieutenant 
Field are inscribed Longfellow’s beautiful and appropriate 
lines: — 

“ He, the young and strong, who cherished 
Noble longings for the strife, 

By the wayside fell and perished, 

Weary with the march of life.” 

Allen C. Grriswold. 

He enlisted in Co. I, 56th Regt., Mass. Vols., Feb. 4, 1864, 
and died of wounds received in battle at Spottsylvania Court 
House, May 23, 1864. 


448 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Joseph W. Grriswold. 

Joseph W. Griswold, a brother of Allen C., enlisted in Co. I, 
56th Regt., Mass. Vols., Feb. 14, 1864, and was killed at Spott- 
sylvania, Va., May 18, 1864. 


Greorge W. Hall , Jr. 

He was born in Milton, Jan. 1, 1844, and attended the East 
School in our town. He enlisted in the 38th Regt., Mass. 
Vols., Aug. 21, 1862. He was in the battles of Bisland, Port 
Hudson, Cane River, Opequan Creek, and Winchester. At the 
battle of Winchester, Sept. 19, 1864, he was severely wounded, 
and was ordered to Frederick Hospital, where he died from the 
effects of his wounds, May 1, 1865. His remains were removed 
to Milton, and lie entombed in our cemetery. 

Isaiah Hunt. 

He was born in Milton, and passed his childhood and youth 
here. He enlisted in the 35th Regt., Mass. Vols., Aug. 19, 
1862. He was severely wounded in the battle of South 
Mountain, the lirst in which his regiment was engaged; he was 
taken to Convalescent Camp at Arlington Heights, and from 
thence to Washington, where he died at the Soldiers’ Retreat, 
Dec. 17, 1862. He was buried at Washington, and afterwards 
was brought home by our citizen, Mr. Samuel Cook, and now 
lies among our honored dead. 

Hlijah M. Hunt. 

He was born in Milton, and was the brother of Isaiah Hunt. 
He enlisted in Co. I, 42d Regt., Mass. Vols., Sept. 16,1862. The 
regiment left camp November 21, and on the 25th of December 
a landing was effected on the wharf at Galveston, Texas, and 
the stars and stripes which floated over the regimental quarters 
at Readville were thrown to the breeze with cheers. On the 
1st of January following General Burrill was attacked by an 
overwhelming force of the enemy, and, failing to receive promised 
support from the gunboats, he, with his whole force, comprising 
three companies of the regiment, in one of which was young 
Hunt, were marched off as prisoners of war. They were paroled 
about the 1st of March. Hunt remained with the regiment 
until the expiration of service. He died in Salem, N.H., April 
6, 1868, and was buried in Milton. 


THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 


449 


Samuel Hunt , Jr. 

He was born in Milton, July 4, 1886, and received his educa¬ 
tion in our schools. He enlisted from Stoughton, in Co. F, 
40th Regt., Mass. Vols., Sept. 3, 1862. He was with his regi¬ 
ment in Florida at the battle of Olustee, and also at the battle 
of Drury’s Bluff, Ya. In the Florida campaign he contracted 
disease, and was discharged April 24, 1864. He arrived home, 
and continued in feeble health until the time of his death, 
which occurred in May following. I learn that the lew weeks 
of his life after he reached home were weeks of great comfort 
and interest to his kindred and friends. Just before his death 
he roused from a lethargy, commenced singing these words, 
“ I’m going home to die no more,” and even before the hymn 
was finished passed to the home above. 


Lieut. Albert Jackson. 

He was born in Boston, but passed his childhood and youth 
in Milton. He enlisted as sergeant in Co. B, 38th Regt., Mass. 
Vols., July 21, 1862, and was promoted to second lieutenant 
March 8, 1863. In the battle of Port Hudson, June 14, 1863, 
he received wounds from which he recovered. He was with his 
regiment in the battles of Bisla’nd, Cane River, Opequan, Win¬ 
chester, Fisher’s Hill, and Cedar Creek. He resigned March 7, 
1864, and returned to Boston, where he died, in 1865, from dis¬ 
ease contracted in the army, and was brought to Milton for in¬ 
terment. 


George Long. 

He enlisted in Nims’ Battery, July 31, 1861, and was dis¬ 
charged Aug. 16, 1864. He was on duty for more than two 
years, was engaged in the bombardment of Vicksburg and 
in the battle of Baton Rouge. He was with the battery 
in many long and tedious marches and skirmishes, and re¬ 
mained until the expiration of service. During the last six 
months of his military life he was prostrated by sickness, and 
confined in the hospital at New Orleans. Dec. 4, 1866, he 
married Miss Emma L. Wadsworth, of Milton, and for the 
benefit of his health removed to Newbern, N.C., where he 
remained for nearly four years; having become greatly en¬ 
feebled, and, hoping for a renewal of strength, he returned 
to Milton, and died here on the day after his arrival, Feb. 
2, 1870. 


450 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Martin Lyons. 

He enlisted as a Milton soldier in Co. F, 19tli Regt., Mass. 
Vols., Aug. 28, 1861. He was killed, Sept. 17, 1862, at An- 
tietam. 

Albert T. B. Martin. 

He enlisted in Co. I, 88th Regt., Mass. Vols., Aug. 21, 1862. 
He was engaged in the battle of Bisland. In the fearful assault 
of the Thirty-eighth at Port Hudson, on that sad Sunday, June 
14, 1863, he received a serious wound. Some of his comrades 
believe that he was taken to the rear, and removed to New Or¬ 
leans, where he died of his wounds. This, however, is not con¬ 
firmed ; and the general belief is that he died on the field of 
battle, and was buried by the Confederates. 

Capt. Joseph W. Morton. 

Early in the war he enlisted as a private. After serving for 
a time at Ship Island, in the Gulf of Mexico, he received a 
commission as second lieutenant. At the battle of Baton 
Rouge, Aug. 5, 1862, owing to sickness and absence of supe¬ 
riors, he was commanding officer of the cavalry engaged on 
that occasion, receiving the thanks and praises of men of high 
rank for the courage and skill with which he performed his 
duties. He was then promoted to first lieutenant. By reason 
of sickness he resigned his commission and returned home; but 
on returning health, at the request of Governor Andrew, he 
raised a company of men, and was commissioned captain of Co. 
D, 4th Mass. Cavalry, The regiment was sent to Hilton Head, 
and thence to Florida, where he distinguished himself in 
many raids and skirmishes. In critical circumstances General 
Birney would say: “ I will send Morton’s cavalry, for he 
will go where I order, and his men will follow where he leads.” 
He was taken prisoner at the battle of Gaines’ Mills, and was 
marched to Macon, thence to Augusta, thence to Andersonville, 
thence to Charleston, and last to Columbia, where he was con¬ 
fined until Feb. 17, 1865. 

One day a negro who was near Captain Morton contrived to 
whisper the electrifying news : “ Sherman’s army is cornin’, and 
you’ll soon be free.”—“ And so will you ,” was the captain’s 
prompt reply. Just before the battle of Baton Rouge he wrote 
to his father: — 

Give my love to all. Do not be worried about me. If God sees fit to 
spare my life to you and mother, lie will; if not, be satisfied that I have 



THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 


451 


done my duty; that 1 died in a good cause, — the service of my country. 
Do not give way, father, if I should fall, but say with the old Roman 
patriot, Cato: — 

“Thanks to the gods, my boy has done his duty; Portius, when I am dead, 
be sure you place his urn near mine.” 


And, mother, you may say, with that brave Swiss woman: — 

“ For thy green vales, O Switzerland ! he died; 

I will forget my sorrow in my pride.” 

At the close of the war he returned home, hut with health 
broken by the exposures and sufferings of prison life. In the 
autumn he passed into a rapid decline, and died at his father’s 
house, Dec. 17, 1864. His remains were deposited in the an¬ 
cestral tomb within our cemetery. 


Nathaniel T. Myers. 

He was born in Milton, and received his education in our 
schools. He enlisted in the 1st Mass. Cavalry, Oct. 12, 
1861, and went with the regiment to Hilton Head, S.C. 
He was in the battles of James Island and Pocataligo. 
Detachments of the regiment were also in the expeditions 
against Jacksonville. He died at Hilton Head, very sud¬ 
denly, Feb. 15, 1868. His commanding officer, in con¬ 
veying the intelligence of his decease to his parents, thus 
writes: — 

On the morning of the 5th your son came from picket duty, and was 
apparently in usual good health. The attack seized him at 4.80 P.M. A 
courier was immediately sent to head-quarters for medical aid, and in a 
very short time, considering the distance, a surgeon arrived, but your son 
was already dead; nor would any benefit have been derived had the sur¬ 
geon been at hand at the time of the attack. The body was to-day buried 
with military honors near the department head-quarters, the Rev. Mr. 
Hudson, Chaplain of New York Engineers, performing divine service at 
the grave. 

I beg leave, in closing, to bear testimony to the uniform good behavior 
and sterling worth of your son. He was faithful in the performance of 
duty, and from his social qualities was much regarded by his comrades. 
His career, although short, was honorable, and his loss will be deeply felt 
by the company. 


By the kindness of his company his remains were tenderly 
transmitted to Milton, at their expense, and repose in the family 
tomb. 


452 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Joseph A. Parsons. 

He enlisted in Co. I, 26th Reg. Mass. Vols., Sept. 21, 1861, 
and died Feb. 2, 1863, at New Orleans. 


Lieut. Stephen Cr. PerJcins. 

He was born in Boston, Sept. 18, 1835, but removed to Mil- 
ton before the war. He graduated at Harvard with the Class 
of 1856, spent a year in the Law School at Cambridge, but after¬ 
wards entered the Scientific School, where he obtained a degree 
in mathematics in 1861. He enlisted in the 2d Regt., Mass. 
Vols., July 8, 1861, and received the commission of second 
lieutenant. On July 11, 1862, he was promoted to first lieu¬ 
tenant. 

The disastrous battle of Cedar Mountain occurred Aug. 9, 
1862. Of the twenty-two officers who went into this battle 
only eight came out unhurt. 

It is stated by our citizen, Col. H. S. Russell, then a captain 
in the 2d, that when the regiment had been in position about 
twenty minutes Lieutenant Perkins received a wound in his 
right hand, but refused to go to the rear, saying that a handker¬ 
chief was all he wanted, and this was given him. Ten minutes 
afterwards Colonel Russell noticed him again; and in a few 
minutes more, when the regiment was withdrawn, he was not 
in his place. The body was found a little to the rear, pierced 
with three bullets. It was sent to Washington, and afterwards, 
with the most touching funeral ceremonies, was deposited in 
Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, Aug. 25, 1862, where it now 
reposes. 

Oapt. J. Sewall Reed. 

Captain Reed was born in Milton, was educated in our schools, 
and passed his youth here. He went to California in 1849, 
where he remained until the opening of the war. In 1862 he 
raised a company of one hundred and one men in California, 
called “ The California 100,” of which he was made captain. 
He came to Boston with his command, and offered their services 
to the State of Massachusetts. 

He was commissioned captain of Co. A, 2d Mass. Cavalry, 
and continued in the service till his death. 

Captain Reed was killed at Drainsville, Va., Feb. 22, 1864. 
He was a brave and gallant officer. The heroic spirit that 
prompted him and his one hundred associates voluntarily 
to come from their distant home to join their native State in 


THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 


453 


the great struggle for right is hardly equalled in the history of 
the war. 

Archibald McKendry, his lieutenant, possessed the same brave 
and noble spirit that inspired the leader and his command. He, 
too, was in some measure connected with one of our religious 
societies, and, with his chivalric commander, reflects honor 
upon our town. 

W. 0. V. Rockwood. 

He enlisted in Co. E, 7th Regt., Mass. Vols., June 15, 1861, 
and died March 3, 1862, at Brightwood, D.C. 

John Scaff. 

He enlisted in Co. E, 7th Regt., Mass. Vols., Jan. 16, 1861, 
and died Oct. 19, 1862, at Washington. 

Charles H. Thayer. 

He was born in Randolph, but removed to Milton in early 
life, and entered the service of Mr. Samuel Adams, where he 
remained until twenty-one years of age. At the commencement 
of the war he enlisted in Co. A, 29th Regt., Mass. Vols., and 
was discharged for disability May 21, 1861. He reenlisted in 
the 38th Regt., Mass. Vols., Aug. 21, 1862. He was with the 
regiment through the Teche campaign, and was engaged in the 
battle of Bisland. In the early part of the first attack upon 
Port Hudson, when engaged near Sandy Creek, he was instantly 
killed, and was buried by his Milton comrades at Port Hudson, 
May 25, 1863. 

Lieut. Greorge W. Thacher. 

George W. Thacher was born June 16, 1837. He was the 
only son of the late George M. Thacher, of Boston, grandson 
of the late Peter O. Thacher, great-grandson of Dr. Peter 
Thacher, of Brattle-street Church, and great-great-grandson of 
the second Oxenbridge Thacher, who was grandson of Rev. 
Peter Thacher, the first pastor of Milton. 

He was anxious to take part in the war in the beginning of 
the struggle, when the 45th Regiment was formed from the 
Cadet Company of which he was a member; but he resigned 
his own wishes to the entreaties of his mother at that time. 
Being the only son of a widow, he was exempted by law from 
serving in the army; he afterwards volunteered to join Captain 
Ware’s company in the old 6th Regiment, and at Fort Delaware, 
Sept. 13, 1864, he laid down his life in the service of his country. 


454 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


No more heroic spirit than his was quenched in the war of the 
rebellion. The chaplain of the regiment writes : “ He was 
anxious to live, but willing to die; he had thought much of 
death, and had no fear of it.” 

T. David Vase, 

of Milton, enlisted in Co. M, 1st Mass. Cavalry, Dec. 26,1861. 
He died at Edisco, S.C., June 1, 1862. 

Greorge Ellis Vose. 

He was horn in Milton, Aug. 23,1842, and received his edu¬ 
cation in our schools. Though of somewhat feeble constitution, 
and unable to endure exposure, he forgot himself in the peril of 
his country, and heartily joined the patriot bands rallying for 
her defence. He enlisted in Co. I, 38th Regt., Mass. Yols., Aug. 
21, 1862. While yet in camp at Lynnfield he contracted a cold 
from which he never fully recovered. He moved with the regi¬ 
ment to Baltimore, and remained there until marching orders 
were received and they broke camp to embark for New Orleans. 
Then he was left behind at Stewart’s hospital, and soon being 
discharged for disability, was brought to his home in Milton, 
where he died,. Jan. 12, 1863. 

The commanding officer of his company thus writes to his 
parents: — 

1 have heard with sorrow of the death of your son George ; you have the 
sympathy of myself and of the men under my command in this your great 
affliction. Your son was a young man of excellent disposition and of great 
force of moral character, beloved and respected by all with whom he came 
in contact. Please accept this as a token of the respect which the officers 
and men have for him who was once their friend and comrade. 

While in hospital at Baltimore lie was frequently visited 
with great kindness by Mr. Nathaniel Morison, kindred of our 
beloved and honored citizen, and also by several kind and 
sympathizing ladies of Baltimore, ministering spirits so often 
sent forth to minister to our lonely, sick, and dying soldiers. 

Lieut. Huntington Erothingham Wolcott , 

in honor of whom is named the Milton Post of the Grand 
Army of the Republic. He was born in Boston, Feb. 4, 
1846, and removed to Milton in 1850; he received from Gov¬ 
ernor Andrew, in October, 1864, the commission of lieutenant 
in the 2d Regt., Mass. Yol. Cav.; was in camp at Readville 





2^Ueg.Mass.m Cm. 







454 


HISTORY OF HIL TO N. 


No more heroic spirit thabshis.was.quenched in the war of the 
rebellion. i he iiaplaiii -of 4he .regiment writes : 4He was 
^Jiilxious to live, but willing to die; lie .had-thought, much of 
death, add had rio fear, of it.” 

T. David Vase, 

< f Milton, enlisted in Co. M, 1st Mass. Cavalry, 'Dec.- 26,1861. 
He died at Edisco, S.C., June 1,1862. 

. 

G-eofga ElUs Vos . 

Tie was 1 orn in Milton, Aug.23,1842, and received his edu¬ 
cation in our schools. Though of somewhat feeble constitution, 
and unable to ondiire; exposure, he forgot himself in the peril of 
Ins country, mid heartily joined the patriot bantb rallying for 
y her defence;" He enlisted in-Co. I, 88th Rc .. Mass. Vo! • -g 
21, 1862. VVl^ie yet in chmp at L infield h ntracted a cold 
iroiti-' whic.|;he-4\ever fully recovered. He moved with the regi¬ 
ment to Baltimo: and remained there untie man hir or< s 
were received and they broke camp to embark for New Orleans. 
Then he was left behind at Stewart’s hospital, and soon being 
drspharged for disability, was brought to his home in Milton, 
where he died, Jan. 12, 1.063. ' - 

The .eommancling officer ofyhis company thus writ:- to his 
^parents;- - . 


- 1 haveyheaVd witlpsomnY oi the death of your son George ; you have the 

sympathy oh myself and of ihe men pudor my command in tins your great 
ySfftlIctitTti. Your son was it yotirig nmrrof excellent disposition and of great 
force of moral character, beloved and respected by ail with whom .<■ •aim 
in .‘eon-tact. Please accept this as a token of the respect which t ! officers 
and ittea-have for- him who' was once^their friend and comrade. 


' JYhila in,, hospital at Baltimore lie was . frequently visited 
wrthy great kindness by .dr. Nathaniel Morison., kindred of our 
'beloved and honored citizen,, and also by several kind and 
.sympathizing ladies of Baltimore, ministering spin so often 

Li ('-at. Hunting/<m- Erotkmghunt Wohott , 
hn honor of whom Is named - die Milton Post of the Grand 

T846. and refofoved 'to -1856';. received from Gov¬ 

ernor Andrew, in October, 1864, the commission of lieutenant 
in the 2d Regt., Mass. Yol. Cav.; was in camp at Readville 





















THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 


455 


for a brief period, and joined the regiment, February 22, in the 
valley of the Shenandoah, under Sheridan’s command. He was 
with Sheridan in the brilliant closing campaign south of Rich¬ 
mond, and in his short soldier’s life saw much more of active 
service than many who had served through, the whole war. 
General Sheridan’s cavalry, sweeping by forced marches to 
the south of Lee’s army, and thus cutting off his retreat, com¬ 
pelled his surrender to General Grant, who was in pursuit. 
During this period Lieutenant Wolcott was attached as aid to 
Brigadier-General, afterwards Major-General, Gibbs, and was 
honored and respected, as well as warmly beloved, by every 
member of the staff. His calmness under fire and gallantry 
in action were especially noticed in the report of the battle 
of Five Forks. In the battles of Dinwiddie Court House and 
Clover Hill he was in the thick of the fight, and showed the 
coolness and resource of a veteran. 

After taking part in the general engagements of the campaign 
in which General Sheridan’s main army played so brilliant a part, 
and in many skirmishes in which the aids were called upon to 
perform arduous and dangerous duty, the campaign against 
Lee’s army was terminated by the surrender of General Lee. 

The hope of a brief leave of absence after the exhausting labors 
and constant fighting of weeks was disappointed by the order 
for General Sheridan’s cavalry to proceed at once by forced 
marches into North Carolina, there to cooperate with Sherman’s 
army against the rebel General Johnston. Surrender having 
closed this campaign also, the troops were ordered to Washing¬ 
ton, there to take part in the grand parade before being 
mustered out of service. Immediately after the grand review 
at Washington, in which Lieutenant Wolcott’s manly bearing 
and fine horsemanship were noticed by many, the malarial fever, 
the seeds of which had been working in his system since the 
terrible exposure in the Southern swamps, manifested itself, and 
he was brought to his Milton home to die. Thus closed a brief, 
but singularly sweet and noble, life, on June 9, 1865, — an har¬ 
monious, rounded, and completed life, however short. His pure, 
high, and generous nature recognized but one law. His 
devotion to duty was absolute, and his conception of duty was 
noble and chivalric. This resolute loyalty to the right, this 
manly, Christian integrity, won the respect of all who knew him ; 
while the play of his mind, the qualities of gentleness and 
sweetness existing in an unusual degree in his character, with 
his quick, warm sympathy, made hi m universally beloved. He 
died for his country, in defence of liberty and the right, no 
less because he fell not on the battle-field. 


456 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


All these departed ones now belong to the great army of 
sacrifice, — pure, high-minded, devoted, patriotic youth; part 
of the “ great cloud of witnesses ” who keep watch and ward 
about their beloved country, and have a right to demand purity 
and truth from the land for which they died. 

It is highly fitting to close this memorial record with the 
illustrious name of one who may justly be classed among the 
Milton soldiers. 


Maj.-Gien. Edwin Vbse Sumner. 

One of our grandest military heroes. He was the son of 
Elisha and Nancy [Yose] Sumner, and grandson of Gen. 
Joseph Yose. His parents, grandparents, and early ancestors 
were natives of Milton, and passed their lives here. For two 
or three years his parents lived in Boston, where General 
Sumner was born. They soon returned to their native town, 
and took up their residence at the homestead of Seth Sumner, 
the father of Elisha, on Canton avenue, in the house known as 
the Kendall house, now owned by Henry A. Whitney. Here 
General Sumner passed his infancy, childhood, and youth. He 
attended the West School, and afterwards studied at Milton 
Academy; his early years are, therefore, identified with this town. 
He entered the army in 1819; served with distinction in the 
Black Hawk War; afterwards was in the same regiment with 
General Jackson. Still later he served under General Scott, 
and commanded the famous cavalry charge at Cerro Gordo. 
In 1858 he was made commander of the Department of the 
West, and in 1861 was selected by General Scott to accompany 
President Lincoln from Springfield to Washington. He per¬ 
formed a conspicuous part in many great battles in the late war, 
and was several times wounded. He was made major-general 
of volunteers, and brevet major-general in the regular army. 
After the battle of Fredericksburg he received orders to succeed 
General Curtis in command of the Department of the West. 
On Saturday, the 14th, just a week before his death, he left 
Washington for Syracuse to spend a few days at home before 
starting for head-quarters at St. Louis. He died in Syracuse, 
March 21, 1863. A true patriot, a lover of freedom, a gallant 
soldier, and a great general. 

“ The muffled drum’s sad roll has beat 
The soldier’s last tattoo : 

No more on life’s parade shall meet 
That brave and fallen few. 


THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 


457 


“ The neighing troop, the flashing blade, 

The bugle’s stirring blast, 

The charge, the dreadful cannonade, 

The din and shout are past. 

“ On fame’s eternal camping-ground 
Their silent tents are spread, 

And glory guards with solemn round 
The bivouac of the dead.” 

Theodore O’Hara. 

RECORD OF SOLDIERS LYING IN MILTON CEMETERY WHO HAVE 
DIED SINCE THE WAR. 

The roll of names next recorded represents those honored 
soldiers who survived the perils of the war, and entered again 
on the pursuits of life, but only to continue for a brief period ; 
the end in many cases being hastened from wounds received in 
battle, or from disease contracted in a Southern clime. These, 
too, passed through equal sacrifices and dangers, and are equally 
worthy of grateful and perpetual remembrance. 

William JR. Angier, Penn. Yol. Reserves; died in Milton, 
Sept. 4, 1880. 

Charles Bronsdon , Private, Co. I, 38th Mass. Yols.; died in 
Milton, 1884, aged 47 years. 

Joseph M. Churchill, First Lieutenant Boston Cadets, and Cap¬ 
tain Co. B, 45th Mass. Yols.; died in Milton, 1886. 

Greorge E. Clark, Musician, 20th Mass. Yols.; aged 53 years. 

Philip E. Clark, Private, Co. A, 18th Mass. Vols.; died at 
Boston, chronic diarrhoea, aged 47 years. 

Thomas Clayton, Co. I, 24th Mass. Yols.; aged 42 years. 

William Clayton, ship “ New Ironsides,” U.S.N.; aged 28 
years. 

Samuel W. Cozzens, Staff Officer with General Butler at New 
Orleans. 

Abel A. Cowan, Private, 16th N.Y. Heavy Art. 

Henry F. Cushing, of Malden, Co. K, 43d Mass. Yols.; died 
at Hyde Park, 1880 ; railroad accident. 

Samuel Gr. Frye, of Boston, Co. C, 43d Mass. Yols.; died in 
Washington, D.C., Feb. 21, 1866. 

William A. Grardner , ship “ Lafayette,” U.S.N.; died in 
Milton, April 20, 1885. 

Christopher C. Holmes , Colonel of Cadets ; died in Milton, 
July 16, 1882. 

Edward F. Hopkins, Captain, Co. E, 7th Mass. Yols.; died in 
Milton, from accident in paper-mill, Jan. 3, 1881. 

William A. Howard , Captain, U.S.A. 


458 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Charles C. Hunt, Private, Co. I, 88th Mass. Vols.; died in 
Milton, Nov. 27, 1878. 

Hiram T. Nye, Private, Co. I, 88th Mass. Yols.; died at 
Boston, 1879. 

Albert S. Packard , of Boston, Sergeant, Co. E, 7th Mass. 
Yols.; he was discharged April 8, 1863, for disability. 

Daniel Cr. Rice , of Newton, Co. K, 45th Mass. Yols.; enlisted 
Oct. 7, 1862; discharged July 7, 1863, end of service; died, 
1879. 

William H. Roberts , of Lynn, Private, Co. E, 1st Mass. Yols. 
Heavy Art.; discharged Nov. 6, 1863; reenlisted from Salem, 
Nov. 6, 1863, and continued to end of service; died in Milton, 
March 13, 1882. 

William H. Shedd , of Dorchester, Co. A, 18th Mass. Yols.; 
enlisted Sept. 2, 1861; discharged Sept. 2,1864, end of service ; 
died at Boston, 1883. 

J. Henry Snow , Co. B, 45th Mass. Vols. 

Frederick A. Thayer , Co. E, 7th Mass. Infantry. 

Walter R. Tucker, born June 28, 1843; died Oct. 15, 1863; 
Co. G, 5th Mass. Cav. 

Horace N. Wetherbee, of Bandolph, Private, Co. G, 4th Mass. 
Heavy Art.; enlisted Aug. 27,1864; discharged June 17, 1865. 

Greorge F. Weston, of Reading, Co. D, 22d Mass. Yols.; dis¬ 
charged for disability, Feb. 5, 1863. 

John Philips Pay son White, Surgeon, 10th N.Y. Regiment; 
died in New York. 

“ Rest on! embalmed and sainted dead, 

Dear as the blood ye gave; 

No impious footsteps here shall tread 
The herbage of your grave. 

“ Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter’s blight, 

Nor time’s remorseless doom, 

Can dim one ray of holy light 
That gilds your glorious tomb.” 

Theodore O’Hara. 

The following tables, prepared with great labor and care by 
George K. Gannett, of Milton, give a complete and perfect list 
and statement of Milton’s quota in the late war : — 


TIIE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 


459 


LIST OF MILTON SOLDIERS AS TAKEN FROM RECORD OF 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 


g 

G 



I 

| 

Time. 

Date 

of Muster. 

(2 

8 



54 

F 

3 yrs. 

Oct. 10, ’63. 

6 

B 

100 dys. 

July 16, ’64. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Sept. 26, ’62. 

18 

H 

3 yrs. 

Aug. 24, ’61. 

33 

C 

3 yrs. 

Aug. 6, ’62. 

IstH.A. 

A 

3 yrs. 

Aug. 5, ’62. 

26 


3 yrs. 

Sept. 19, ’61. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Sept. 26, ’62. 

42 

I 

9 mos. 

Sept. 16, ’62. 

1st Bat. 
H.A. 

i A 

3 yrs. 

Feb. 22, ’62. 




July 18, ’64. 

18 

B 

3 yrs. 

Aug. 24, ’61. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Sept. 26, ’62. 

1 

E 

3 yrs. 

May 25, ’61. 

7 

E 

3 yrs. 

June 15, ’61. 

4th Cav. 

H 

3 yrs. 

Feb. 8, ’64. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Sept. 26, ’62. 

7 

E 

3 yrs. 

June 15, ’61. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Sept. 26, ’62. 

38 

I 

3 yrs. 

Aug. 22, ’62. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Sept. 26, ’62. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Sept. 26, ’62. 

7 

E 

3 yrs. 

June 15, ’61. 

13 

A 

3 yrs. 

Aug. 7, ’62. 

38 

I 

3 yrs. 

Aug. 21, ’62. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Sept. 26, ’62. 

26 


3 yrs. 

Oct. 2, ’61. 

V.RC. 



July 21, ’64. 


' H ’ 

3 yrs. ‘ 

June 15, ’61. 

2 

U.R. 

3 yrs. 

July 20, ’64. 

56 

H 

3 yrs. 

Feb. 15, ’64. 

1 

E 

3 yrs. 

May 25, ’61. 

1 

E 

3 yrs. 

May 25, ’61. 

18 


3 yrs. 

Aug. 21, ’61. 



Feb. 2, ’65. 

2d Cav. 

G 

3 yrs. 

July 19, ’64. 

17 

A 

3 yrs. 

Jan. 17, ’65. 

V.R.C. 


July 10, ’64. 

2 

U.R. 

3 yrs. 

July 19, ’64. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Sept. 26, ’62. 

62 

C 

lyr. 

Mar. 17, ’65. 

60 

B 

100 dvs. 

July 16, ’64. 


E 

3 yrs". 

June 15, ’61. 

38 

I 

3 yrs. 

Aug. 21, ’62. 

Boston 

Cadets. 

i ■ • 

May 26, ‘62., 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Sept. 26, ’62.. 

20 


3 yrs. 

Sept. 9, ’61.. 


Adgarton, James M. 
Agin, John .... 
Alden, Samuel W. . 
Allen, William 8. . 
Allen, William S. . 
Angell, Moses E. . 
♦Badger, Algernon S 

1st Lieut. 

Badger, William F. 
Baker, Jonathan . 
Ball, Lyman E. . . 
Barrett, Michael J. 
Barrington, John . 
Bartlett, Benjamin J 
Baxter, George O.. 

Bent, George . i . 

Blaisdell, Thomas . 
Boden, William F. 

Musician .... 
Bole, William . . . 
Bolster, Charles 
Bradlee, J. Walter 

Corp. 

Breck, Charles E. C. 

Sergt. 

Brigham, William F 
Broad. Horace S. . 
Bronsdon, Amos H. 

Bronsdon, Charles. . 
Bronsdon, William B. 
Brooks, Henry D., 

Musician. 

Brown, James S. . . 

Brown, Levi. 

Buckley, Patrick . . 
Buckley, William A. 


Aug. 20, ’65. Expiration of serv. 
"" ’64. Expiration of serv. 
’63. Expiration of serv. 
’62. Disability. 

’65. Expiration of serv. 
’64. Expiration of serv. 


July 7, 
May 2, 
June 11, 
July 8, 
Nov. 11, 


Nov. 14, 
Dec. 1, 
July 7, 
June 25, 


Nov. 14, 
July 7, 

July’ 7, 
July 10, 


Burleigh, N. G., Mus’n 
Burns, John. . . , 
Byer, Andrew. . . 
Byer, Andrew . . . 
Callahan, Dennis . 
Carter, John . 
Caswell, Henry P. 
Caswell, Henry P. 
Caswell, Joseph D. 
Chamberlain, James 
Chandler, Johathan H 
Churchill, Joseph M., 

1st Lieut. 1 

Churchill, Joseph M., i 

Capt. 1 

Clark, George E., ] 

Band .. 1 


July 7, ’63. 
Sept. 15, ’63. 
June 19, ’63. 

Aug. 22, ’63. 
July 7, ’63. 
Sept. 15, ’62. 
Not stated. 
June 27, ’64. 
Never joined 
May 3, ’64. 


Aug. 11, ’62. 
Not stated. 
Jan. 17, ’65. 
July 11, ’65. 
Not stated. 
Never joined 
July 7, ’63. 
May 5, ’65. 
Nov. 30, ’64. 
June 27, ’64. 
July 3, ’63. 


’62. Capt. 1st Texas Cav. 
’63. Expiration of serv. 
’63. Expiration of serv. 
’65. Expiration of serv. 
’64. Order War Dept. 
’62. Disability. 

’63. Expiration of serv. 
’62. Killed, Fair Oaks, 
Va. 

’62. Died, Brightwood, 
D.C. 

’65. Expiration of serv. 
’63. Expiration of serv. 
’63. Died of wounds. 
’63. Expiration of serv. 
’63. Disability. 


Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Disability. 

Died, Pratt’s Land- 
ing, Va. 
Disability. 
Expiration of serv. 
Order War Dept. 

Expiration of serv. 
regiment. 

Died, Washington, 
D.C. 

Expiration of serv. 
Killed, Williams. 

burg, Va. 

Order War Dept. 


regiment. 

Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Disability. 

July 2, ’62. Expiration of serv. 
July 7, ’63. Expiration of serv. 
Aug. 8, ’62. Order War Dept. 


* He enlisted from Boston, April 22,1861, in Co. B, 3d Bat., attached; discharged, Aug. 2,1861. 




























460 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


List op Milton Soldiers. — Continued. 


Name. 

Regiment. 

>> 

§ 

1 

6 

Time. 

Date 

of Muster. 

Termination of Service, and 
cause thereof. 

Clark, Phillip C. . . . 

18 

A 

3 yrs. 

Sept. 9, ’61. 

Feb. 1, ’65. Expiration of serv. 

Conklin, Edward . . . 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Sept. 26, ’62. 

July 7, ’63. Expiration of serv. 

Cook, Charles W. . . . 

35 

E 

3 yrs. 

Aug. 19, ’62. 

Jan. 6, ’63. Not stated. 

Cook, Thos. H. 

V.R.C. 


Aug. 19, ’62. 

Jan. 6, ’65. Not stated. 

Conrtney, James . . . 

12 

K 

yrs. 

July 18, ’64. 
Oct. 22, ’63. 

Jan. 30, ’65. Order War Dept. 
June 25,’64. Trans, to 39th Inf. 

and V.R.C. 



Crossman, John &., j 

38 

I 

3 yrs. 

Aug. 21, ’62. 

June 30, ’65. Expiration of serv. 

Culph, Joseph .... 

2 

G 

3 yrs. 

Aug. 2, ’64. 

Sept. 20, ’64. Deserted. 

Cunningham, John . . 

45 

I 

9 mos. 

Oct. 15, ’62. 

July 7, ’63. Expiration of serv. 

Cunningham, Patrick . 

45 

I 

9 mos. 

Oct. 15, ’62. 

July 7, ’63. Expiration of serv. 

Cunningham, Peter . . 

45 

B 


Sept. 26, ’62. 

July 7, ’63. Expiration of serv. 

Cunningham, William . 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Sept. 26, ’62. 

July 7, ’63. Expiration of serv. 

Dalton, George W. . . 

1 

E 

3 yrs. 

May 25,-’61. 

Dec. 26, ’62. Disability. 

Davenport, Nath. T., jr. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Sept. 26, ’62. 

July 7, ’63. Expiration of serv. 

Davis, Walter S., 2d \ 

22 


3 yrs. 

Oct. 1, ’61. 

June 28, ’62. 1st Lieut. 

Davis, Walter 8., Capt. 

22 


3 yrs. 

Oct. 18, ’62. 

Oct. 17, ’64. Expiration of serv. 




Bvt. Lt. Col. 

Dearborn, Charles C. . 

V.R.C. 



July 18, ’64. 

Not stated. 

Delannoy, Desere . . . 

45 

‘b ’ 


Sept, 30, ’62. 

Deserted. Readville, Mass. 

Dennison, Jerry. . • . 

43 

B 

9 mos! 

Oct. 11, ’62. 

July 30, ’63. Expiration of serv. 

Dillon, William .... 

V.R.C. 



July 20, ’64. 

Feb. 24, ’65. Disability. 

Doherty, Edward . . j 

5th Bat. 
Lt. Art. 


3 yrs. 

Feb. 27, ’65. 

June 12, ’65. Expiration of serv. 

Dunican, Patrick . . . 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Sept. 26, ’62. 

Oct. 9, ’62. Disability. 

Dunican, Patrick . . . 

32 

G 

3 yrs. 

Sept. 7, ’63. 

May 12, ’64. Killed, Laurel Hill, 
Va. 

Mar. 31, ’64. Trans. V.R.C. 

Dyer, Andrew J. . . . 

18 

C 

3 yrs. 

Jan. 14, ’62. 

Edwards, William . . 
Ellinger, William H. . 

62 

0 

lyr. 

Mar. 17, ’65. 

Apr. 21, ’65. Deserted. 

2dH. A. 

G 

3 yrs. 

July 20, ’64. 

Sept. 3, ’65. Expiration of serv. 

Emerson, John H. . . 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Oct. 11, ’62. 

July 7, ’63. Expiration of serv. 

Emerson, John H., 1st1 
Sergt.j 

56 

H 

3 yrs. 

Jan. 27, ’64. 

Emerson, John H.,2d \ 
Lieut.j 

56 


3 yrs. 

May 17, ’64. 


Emerson, John H.,Capt. 

56 


3 yrs. 

Oct. 22, ’64. 

July 22, ’65. Expiration of serv. 

Everett, N. Stanley . . 

13 

' A 

3 yrs. 

Aug. 4, ’62. 

Sept. 21, ’62. Died, Alexandria,Va. 

Eairbank, Lemuel G., ) 
Corp.j 

42 

K 

100 dys. 

July 18, ’64. 

Nov. 11, ’64. Expiration of serv. 

Fisher, George A., j 
1st Lieut.j 

5th Cav. 



July 5, ’64. 

June 24, ’65. Resigned. 

Fisher, Herman .... 

7 

E 

3 yrs. 

June 15, *61. 

1863. Trans, to V.R.C. 

Fisher, William J., ) 

1st Sergt.1 

7 

E 

3 yrs. 

June 15, ’61. 


Fisher, William J., j 
2d Lieut.j 

7 


3 yrs. 

May 4, ’63. 

Sept. 16, ’64. Trans, to 39th Reg. 

Fish, Henry F. 

12 

D 


July 17, ’63. 
June 25, ’64. 

Trans, to 39th Reg. 

Trans, to 32d Reg. 

June 29, ’65. Expiration of serv. 
Sept. 10, ’64. Rejected recruit. 

Fish Henry F. 

A 


Fish’ Henry F. 

32 

A 


June 2, ’65. 

Fisk, Homer W. . . . 

2d H.A. 

U.R. 

3 yrs. 

July 16, ’64. 

Fletcher, James W. . . 

56 

H 

3 yrs. 

Feb. 15, ’64. 

Aug. 7, ’65. Order War Dept. 

Forbes, William H., 

2d Lieut.j 

1st Cav. 


3 yrs. 

Dec. 26, ’61. 

Forbes, William H., 

Ipt Tiifint. . . T . . ( 

1st Cav. 


3 yrs. 

July 27, ’62. 


Forbes, Wm. H., Capt. 

2d Cav. 


3 yrs. 

Jan. 14, ’63. 


Forbes, Wm. H., Maj. 

2d Cav. 


3 yrs. 

May 12, ’63. 


Forbes, William H., j 
Lieut.-Col.) 

2d Cav. 


3 yrs. 

Oct. 21, ’64. 

May 15, ’65. Expiration of serv. 

Ford, Luther A. ... 

32 

0 

3 yrs. 

Sept. 7, ’63. 

June 29, ’65. Expiration of serv. 

Fulton, Henry S. P. . . 

V.R.C. 


Aug. 8, ’64. 

Nov. 14, ’65. Order War Dept. 

Gilbert, Wallace H. . . 

22 

'f ' 

3 yrs. 

Aug. 10, ’61. 

Nov. 1, ’63. Trans, to V.R.C, 

Goodwin, Daniel . . 



July 29, ’64. 

Nov. 21, ’65. Order War Dept. 

Grant, Everett A., Corp. 

38 

I 

3 yrs. 

Aug. 26, ’62. 

June 30, ’65. Expiration of serv. 
































THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 


461 


List op Milton Soldiers. — Continued. 


1 

s 

Time. 

1 

3 


V.R.C. 



56 

'i * 

3 yrs. ' 

56 

i. 

3 yrs. 

29 

A 

3 yrs. 

38 

I 

3 yrs. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

2 

U. R. 

3 yrs. 

13 

D 

3 yrs. 

2d Cav. 

E 

3 yrs. 

13 

A 

3 yrs. 


A 

3 yrs. 



13 

B 

3 yrs. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

56 

I 

3 yrs. 

Boston 

Act 

of ) 

Cadets 

Con 

gress ) 

45 

B 


56 


3 yrs. 

38 

' i ‘ 

3 yrs. 

Boston 

By A 

ct of ) 

Cadets 

Con 

gress j 

7 

E 

3 yrs. 

7 


3 yrs. 

7 


3 yrs. 

7 


3 yrs. 

V.R. C. 
4th Cav. 

’ H ' 

3 yrs.' : 

16 

I 

3 yrs. 

38 

I 

3 yrs. 

35 

E 

3 yrs. 

24 

I 

3 yrs. ■ 

45 

V. R. C. 

B 

9 mos. 

45 

’ B ’ 

9 mos! 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

38 

I 

3 yrs. 

6thUnat 

Inf. 

S c 

90 dys. 

42 

I 

100 dys.. 

V. R. C. 

7 

E 


3 yrs. , 

7 

E 

3 yrs. . 

. 38 

I 

3 yrs. 

26 

I 

3 yrs. 

4th Cav. 

H 

3 yrs. : 

60 

B 

100 dys. , 

45 

B 

9 mos. 1 

38 

I 

3 yrs. . 

44 

D 

9 mos. ! 

56 


3 yrs. : 

56 


3 yrs. : 

7 

E 

3 yrs. . 


Grisel, John .... 
Griswold, Allen P. . 
Griswold, Joseph W. 

Gunnison, Edward L. 
Hall, George W., Jr. 
Halliday, George W. 
Hardman, James C. . 
Hastings, Frank B. . 
Heath, Charles W. . 
Hebard, Henry J. A. 
Hebard, Henry J. A. 
Hegan, Edward . . . 
Hicks, David E., Sergt 
Higgins, John . . 

Hill, Chester K. . 
Hollingsworth, Amor ) 

L.| 

Hollis, Abijah, 2d Lieut. 
Hollis, Abijah, Capt. . 
Holmes, Abraham, Jr. . 
Holmes, Christopher ) 
C-, Capt., rank J 

Lieut.-Col.) 

Hopkins, Edward E., ( 

1st Sergt.j 

Hopkins, Edward E., \ 

2d Lieut.J 

Hopkins, Edward F., 
1st Lieut. ■ • ) 

Hopkins, Edward E., ) 

Capt.( 

Houghton, Edward . 
Howe, George W. . . 
Hoyt, Daniel T. V. . 
Hunt, Charles C. . . 
Hunt, Isaiah .... 


Jan. 30, 
Eeb. 4, ! 
Eeh. 4, ’ 

May 21, ’ 
Aug. 21, : 
Sept. 26, : 
July 19, : 
July 22, ! 
Eeb. 16, ’ 
July 29, ’ 

July is’ ’ 
July 16, ’ 


May 26, 1 
Sept. 26, ’ 
Nov. 25, ’ 
Aug. 21, ’ 


May 26, ’62. July 2, ’62. Expiration of s< 


June 15, ’61. 


Ingraham, Sewell S. 
Jewett, Jonas W. . . 
Johnson, David W. . 
Jones, Benjamin F-. . 
Jones, Elbridge . . . 
Jones, John P. . . . 
Jones, John P. . . . j 
Keating, John .... 
Kennedy, Michael . . . 
King, Washington . . 
Kirby, Patrick, Sergt. . 
Kittridge, Henry G. I 

W., Sergt.j 

Lacy, John. 

Leavitt, Albion .... 
Leavitt, Charles L. . . 
Leavitt, William F. . . 
Leavitt, Wm. S., Sergt. 
Levy, Bernard .... 
Littlefield, Charles G. . 
Littlefield, Henry W. . 
Littlefield, Henry W., ) 
2d Lieut. \ 


Lord, George F. 


Jan. 17, ' 
July 29, ’ 
Eeb. 8, 
July 21, 1 
Aug. 21, ! 
Aug. 19, ’ 
Jan. 2, ! 
Sept. 26, ’ 
Aug. 2, ! 
Sept. 26, ’ 
Sept. 26, ’ 
Aug. 21, ! 
May 4, ' 
July 19, ’ 
July 28, 1 


Nov. 23, ’65. Order War Dept. 
May 23, ’64. Died of wounds. 
May 18, ’64. Killed Spottsylva- 
nia Court-House. 
Aug. 15, ’64. Expiration of serv. 
May 1, ’65. Died of wounds. 
July 7, ’62. Expiration of serv. 
Never joined regiment. 

Aug. 1, ’64. Expiration of serv. 
July 20, ’65. Expiration of serv. 
Jan. 4, ’64. To reenlist. 

Sept. 21, ’64. Order War Dept. 
Not stated. 

Reenlisted U. S. 

colored troops. 
Expiration of serv. 

July 2, ’62. Expiration of serv. 
July 7, ’63. Expiration of serv. 
June 26, ’65. Disability Bt. Maj. 
Mar. 17, ’64. Disability. 


Mar. 22, ’< 


June 10, ’63. 
Not stated. 
Aug. 20, ’65. 
" ’61. 


Deserted. 

Disability. 

Disability. 

( Died of wounds, 
I Washington, D.C. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 

Disability. 
Expiration of serv. 
Disability. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 


. 24, ’64. 
Dec. 17, ’62. 
Jan. 20, ’66. 
’62.]july 7, ’63. 

’64. Not stated. 
’62. Nov. 3, ’62. 
’62. July 7, ’63. 
’62. Sept. 11, ’62. 
’64. Aug. 2, ’64. 
’64. Nov. 11, ’64. 
’64. Not stated. 
’64. Nov. 21, ’65. 
’61. Jan. 3, ’62. 
’61. Dec. 26, >63. 
’62. June 30, ’65. 
'61. Jan. 4, ’64. 
’64. Nov. 14, ’65. 
’64.lNov. 30, ’64. 
’62. July 7, ’63. 
'64. Not stated. 
^Jju.jie 30, 65. 
'62.1 April 26, ’63. 


’64. Eeb. 9, ’65. Disability. 
’61. Oct. 12, ’63. Disability. 


To reenlist. 
Expiration of S( 
To reenlist. 
Expiration of se 
Expiration of s( 
Expiration of s( 



























462 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


List of Milton Soldiers. — Continued. 


Regiment. 

j Company. 

Time. 

7 

E 

3 yrs. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

3d H.A. 

H 

3 yrs. 

IstH.A. 

I 

3 yrs. 




7 

E 

3 yrs. 

5.6 

B 

3 yrs. 

19 

F 

3 yrs. 

19 

F 

3 yrs. 

2d H.A. 

E 

3 yrs. 

7 

E 

3 yrs. 

38 

I 

3 yrs. 

24 

D 

3 yrs. 

24 



45 

B 

9 mos. 

V.R.C. 



2 

U.R. 

3 yrs. 

28 

A 

3 yrs. 

15 

G 

3 yrs. 

20 

G 

3 yrs. 

24 

D 

3 yrs. 

24 


3 yrs. 

7 

E 

3 yrs. 

45 

B 


15 

G 

3 yrs. 

2d Cav. 

B 

3 yrs. 

2d Cav. 

F 

3 yrs. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

44 

E 

9 mos. 

39 

B 

3 yrs. 

38 

I 

3 yrs. 


I 

3 yrs. 

6 

H 

100 dys. 

22 

F 

3 yrs. 


B 

9 mos. 

28 

A 

3 yrs. 

35 

E 

3 yrs. 

9 

H 

3 yrs. 

1st Cav. 

M 

3 yrs. 

1st Cav. 

D 

3 yrs. 

7 

E 

3 yrs. 

7 

E 

3 yrs. 

7 

E 

3 yrs. 

45 

O 


45 

B 


42 

I 

100 dys. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

38 

I 

3 yrs. 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

26 

I 

3 yrs. 

24 

A 

3 yrs. 

2 


3 yrs. 

2 


3 yrs. 


Lord, James F., Corp. 
Lord, Joseph B. 

Lord, Joseph B. 

Lord, William H. 
Lucas, Frederick A. 
Lycett, James . . 
Lynch, Michael. 
Lyons, Martin . 
Lyons, Michael . 

• Madden, Michael 
Malloy, James . 
Martin, Albert T. B. 
Martin, John W., Sergt. 
Martin, John W., 1st \ 

Lieut.. . . j 

Mathes, Daniel .... 
McCarthy, Eugene . . 
McCauley, Joseph F. . 
McG-owan, Jas., Sergt. 
McHugh, Patrick . . . 
McHugh, Patrick . . . 
McWhirk, Alexander, ) 

Sergt . { 

McWhirk, Alexander, / 

1st Lieut. j 

Merrill, Thomas . . . 
Merrill, William W. . 
Meyers, George .... 
Middleton Henry G. . 
Miller, William C. H. . 
Moffat, Elijah W. ' 

Corp . 

Morrisey, John . . 
Morrisey, Thomas 
Morse, Alfred L. . 
Moses, George F. . . _ 
Moulton, Geo.H., Corp. 
Moulton, Luther, Jr. 
Moulton, Luther, Jr 
Munroe, William . 
Murphy, James . . 
Murray, James . . 
Murray, John . . . 
Murry, Francis . . 
Myers, Nathaniel T. 
Myers, Samuel G. . 
Needham, Henry £ 

Corp. 

Nightingale, James 
Nightingale, Wm. I 
Niles, Jerome S. . 
Nolan, Christopher 
Nolan, Christopher 
Norton, Edward . . 
Nye, Hiram T. . . 
Ochs, Joseph A. . 
Parsons, Joseph A. 

Pearl, Henry M.. . 
Perkins, Stephen G 

2d Lieut. 

Perkins, Stephen G 
1st Lieut . 


Dec. 26, 
July 7, 
Sept. 18, 
Sept. 17, 
Not statet 
June 27, 
June 13, 
Sept. 17, 
Jan. 11, 
Sept. 3, 
Jan. 28, 
June 18, 


’63. To reenlist. 

’63. Expiration of serv. 
’64. Expiration of serv. 
’65. Expiration of serv. 
1 . 

’64. Expiration of serv. 
’65. Disability. 

62. Killed, Antietam. 
’64. Disability. 

’65. Expiration of serv. 
’63. Deserted. 

’63. Died of wounds. 


July 30, ’ 
July 27, ’ 
Jan. 2, ’ 
Jan. 20, ’ 
June 15, ’ 
Sept. 26, ’ 
July 29, ’ 
Feb. 3, ’ 
July 19, ’ 
Sept. 26, ’ 
Sept. 26, ’ 
Sept. 26, ’ 
Sept. 12, ’ 
Aug. 20, ’ 
Aug. 21, ’ 
Aug. 21, ’ 
July 16, ’ 
Aug. 10, ’ 
Sept. 26, ’ 
Dec. 13, ’ 
Aug.’19, ’ 
Dec. 7, ’ 
Oct. 12, ’ 
Sept. 17, ’ 
June 15, 1 
June 15, '■ 
June 15, ’ 
Sept. 26, ’ 
Sept. 26, ’ 
July 19, ’ 
Sept. 26, ’ 
Aug. 21, ’ 
Sept. 26, ' 
Sept. 21, 1 

Oct. 17, 1 
July 8, ’ 


Dec. 18, ’65. 
July 7, ’63. 
Not stated. 
Never joined i 
June 30, ’65. 
July 27, ’64. 
July 16, ’65. 
Jan. 20, ’66. 
Jan. 20, ’66. 
Nov. 22, ’62. 
July 7, ’63. 
Sept. 13, ’63. 
July 20, ’65. 
July 20, ’65. 
July 7, ’63. 
July 7, ’63. 
July 7, ’63. 
June 18, ’63. 
Mar. 17, ’65. 
June 30, ’65. 
May 30, ’63. 
Oct. 27, ’64. 
Jan. 10, ’64. 
July 7, ’63. 
Nov. 1, ’62. 
June 9, ’65. 
June 10, ’64. 
Feb. 15, ’63. 
Oct. 3, ’64. 
June 27, ’64. 
June 27, ’64. 
June 14, ’62. 
July 7, ’63. 
July 7, ’63. 
Nov. 11, ’64. 
July 7, ’63. 
June 30, ’65. 
July 7, ’63. 
Feb. 2, ’63. 


Resigned. 
Expiration of serv. 


j Trans. Co. G, 20th 
! Reg. 

Expiration of serv. 
Made 1st Lieut. 

( Expiration of ser- 
I vice as Sergt. 
Disability. 
Expiration of serv. 
Deserted. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Disability. 
Expiration of serv. 
Disability. 
Expiration of serv. 
To reenlist. 
Expiration of serv. 
Disability. 
Expiration of serv. 
Missing. 

i Died, Hilton Head, 
| S.C. 

Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Disability. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Died, New Orleans, 


Nov. 30, ’62. Disability. 






























THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 


463 


List op Milton Soldiers. — Continued. 


Pierce, George . . 
*Pierce, Edward L. 
Pillsbury, Oliver 8. 
Piper, Alonzo . . . 
Raymond, George T 

Corp. 1 . 

Richardson, George 
Robertson, James B 
Robertson, James B 
Sergt. . . ... 

Robertson, James B 

Sergt. 

Robinson, James 
Roekwood, Wm. O. Y. 

Rogers, Arthur . . . 
Rooney, Bartholomew 
Rooney, Patrick H. . 


Rowe, John F. . . . 
Rowe, John F. . . . 
Sargent, Eliphalet E. 
Sayers, William . . . 

Scaff, John. 


3 yrs. 
3 yrs. 
3 yrs. 
3 yrs. 


Schrider, Wm., Mus’l 
S haw, Joseph A., Corp 
Sias, John, 2d . . . 
Siebert, John . . . 
Simmons, John D. 
Skinner, George E. 
Skinner, Otis A. . 
Smith, Patrick . . 
Snow, Elbridge . . 
Snow, Elbridge . . 
Snow, James H.. . 
Spear, John M., Jr. 
Spiller, James F., Corp 
Spinney, Pryor . . 
Sullivan, Daniel J. 

Sumner, Henry J.. 
Sweeney, Terance. 
Thayer, Charles H. 
Thayer, Charles H 

Sergt. 

Thayer, Frederick 
Thayer, Samuel L. 
Thompson, James A 
Vase, T. David . . . 
Vialle, James L., Sergt. 
Vose, George E. 

Ware, William . 
Warren, Preston 
Wellington, Henry F. 
Wentworth, George I 


1st Cav. 
4th Cav. 
V.R.C. 


3 yrs. 
3 yrs. 
3 yrs. 


3 yrs. 
3 yrs. 
3 yrs. 


3 yrs. 
9 mos. 
3 yrs. 


2d Lieut. 

White, Edward P., 

1st Lieut. 

White, James . . . . 


Sept. 26, ’62. 
Apr. 23, ’61. 
Aug. 11, ’64. 
July 16, ’64. 
July 29, ’62. 
July 18, ’64. 
Aug 24, ’61. 
Jan. 2, ’64. 
Oct. 21, ’64. 


July 16, ’64. 
Sept. 26, ’61. 
Oct. 14, ’61. 

Sept. 23, ’61. 
Oct. 23, ’61. 
July 30, ’64. 
Oct. 11, ’62. 

June 15, ’61. 

Jan. 12, ’64. 
Sept. 26, ’62. 
Aug. 21, ’62. 
Nov. 17, ’61. 
Aug. 6, ’62. 
Sept. 26, ’62. 
July 16, ’61. 
July 20, ’64. 
Sept. 26, ’62. 
July 14, ’64. 
Sept. 26, ’62. 
Dec. 20, ’61. 
June 15, ’61. 
Aug. 10, ’64. 
Jan. 31, ’65. 

Sept. 26, ’62. 
Aug. 21, ’62. 
May 21, ’61. 
Aug. 21, ’62. 
June 15, ’61. 
June 26, ’61. 
Sept. 26, ’62. 
Dec. 26, ’61. 
Sept. 16, ’62. 
Aug. 21, ’62. 
Sept. 12, ’62. 
Aug. 11, ’64. 
Sept. 26, ’62. 
Aug. 21, ’61. 
Sept. 12, ’62. 
June 4, ’63. 


July 7, ’63. Expiration of s< 
July 22, ’61. Expiration of si 
June 28, ’65. Expiration of si 
Nov. 30, ’64. Expiration of s< 
Aug. 1, ’64. Expiration of si 


Oct. 21, ’64. Trans, to 32d Reg. 
Nov. 1, ’64. Supernumerary. 
Not stated. 

Mar. 3, ’62. Died, Brightwood, 
D.C. 

Oct. 27, ’64. Expiration of serv. 
July 7, ’63. Expiration of serv. 
Dec. 22, ’63. Trans, to Signal 

Transferred to 4th Cav. 

Oct. 25, ’64. Expiration of serv. 
Nov. 14, ’65. Order War Dept. 
Nov. 2, ’62 Deserted, Readville, 


Oct. 19, ’62. 

June 6, ’65. 
July 7, ’63. 
July 24, ’63. 
Jan. 4, ’64. 
June 11, ’65. 
July 7, ’63. 
June 3, ’62. 
Never joined 
July 7, ’63. 
Nov. 30, ’64. 
July 7, ’63. 
Dec. 4, ’64. 
Feb. 12, ’63. 
June 28, ’65. 
May 5, ’65. 

July 7, ’63. 
June 30, ’65. 
July 6, ’61. 


Aug. 21, ’65 
Mar. 24, ’65 
July 7, ’63 
June 1, ’62 
Aug. 20, ’63 
Nov. 7, ’62 
Mar. 14, ’63 
Not stated. 
July 7, ’63 
Dec. 20, ’63 
May 30, ’63 


Died, Washington, 
D.C. 

Disability. 
Expiration of serv. 
Disability. 

To reenlist. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Disability, 
regiment. 

Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Disability. 
Expiration of serv. 
Died of wounds, 
Fairfield, Va. 
Expiration of serv. 
Expiration of serv. 
Disability. 

Killed, Fort Hud¬ 
son, La. 
Deserted. 

Deserted. 


Expiration of serv. 

Disability. 

Disability. 

Expiration of serv. 
To reenlist. 

2d Lieut. 2d H.A. 


2d H.A. 
4th Cav. 


3 yrs. Aug. 14, ’ 
3 yrs. Feb. 24, ’ 


Nov. 14, ’65. Expiration of serv. 


*He left Boston April 18 with his regiment, which was sworn in at Fort Monroe on the 23d. 































464 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


List op Milton Soldiers. — Concluded. 


Name. 

i 

>> 

1 

Time. 

Date 

Termination of Service, and 


g 

of Muster. 

cause thereof. 


<3 

6 




White, Jas.C.,1st Lieut. 

44 

G 

9 mos. 

Sept. 12, ’62. 

June 18, ’63. Expiration of serv. 

White, Jas.C., 1st Lieut. 
White, Jas. C., Capt. . 

2d H.A. 


3 yrs. 

Aug. 25, ’63.* 

2d H.A. 


3 yrs. 

Aug. 14, ’63.* 

Sept. 3, ’65. Expiration of serv. 

White, John E., 2d j 

29 


3 yrs. 

May 7, ’61. 

July 31, ’61. 

Whittemore, Charles N. 

56 

H 

3 yrs. 

Feb. 15, ’64. 

Aug. 2, ’64. Died, Phila., Pa. 

Wigley, James, Sergt. 

38 

I 

3 yrs. 

Aug. 21, ’62- 

June 30, ’65. Expiration of serv. 

Williams, John M. . . 

45 

B 

9 mos. 

Sept. 26, ’62. 

July 7, ’63. Expiration of serv. 

Williams, Thos., Corp. 

45 

B 


Sept. 26, ’62 

July 7, ’63. Expiration of serv. 

Wilson, James .... 

19 

I 

3 yrs. 

May 19, ’64. 

June 30. ’65. Expiration of serv. 


* Unexplained error in date. 


IN REGULAR ARMY. 


Arnold, Charles R. 

Belton, Thomas. 

Collins, Edward, Lieut.-Col. 
Collins, John. 


| Douglas, Alfred. 

Field, Ebenezer. (Navy.) 
Hastings, Frank B. 

| Huntington, Edward. 


Lane, John. 

Savage, William H. 
Sweatland, George E. 


The following-named citizens furnished substitutes : — 

Coot, Samuel, Jr. I Gannett, George K. 

Durell, John. | Martin, Henry B. 


Thayer, James B. 
White, Franklin B. 


SOLDIERS WHO RECEIVED A MILTON BOUNTY, BUT WERE NOT COUNTED 
UPON ITS QUOTA. 


Albert J. Bacon, Boston. 
Elbridge Blackman, Randolph. 
James E. Dow, Boston. 

James Finnerty, Boston. 
Charles H. Graham, Quincy. 
Charles H. Moulton, Acton. 


George W. Pearce, Quincy. 

Thomas L. Pearce, Quincy. 

Edward Shannon, Westport. 

John E. Simpson, Quincy. 

Samuel G. Thayer, Stoughton. 
William H. Whitney, West Roxbury. 


Jerome S. Chapman. 
Bernard Cofield. 
Michael Degnan. 
William Jackson. 


NOT ACCOUNTED 

I Josiah Leavitt. 

Charles Petal. 

George H. Pickering. 

I Henry C. A. Ruvald. 


I Francis Traven. 
George A. Twiss. 
C. H. Whitcomb. 

I Charles Wryanch. 


SUPPLEMENTARY LIST. 


Soldiers of the war who have since become citizens of Milton, and soldiers who were Milton 
men, but not counted on its quota. 

[This list is necessarily imperfect .] 


Angier, Wm. R., Penn. Reserves. 

Brown, John H., 15th New Hampshire. 
Brown, N. Frank, Co. I, nth New Hampshire. 
Field, Josiah H. V., Lieut., Regular Army. 
Fletcher, George A., Lieut., 56th Mass. 
Jackson, Albert, Lieut., 38th Mass. 

Littlefield, John, Lieut., 23d Mass. 

McQuirk, James, 24th Mass. 

Peabody, Oliver W., Lieut.-Col. 45th Mass. 


Reed, J. Sewall, Capt., California Hundred. 
Rice, Daniel G., 45th Mass. 

Russell, Henry 8., Brevet Brig.-Gen., 5th 
Mass. Cav. 

Sias, Nathaniel, Navy. 

Stevenson, Robert H., Brevet Brig.-Gen., 
24th Mass. 

Tappan, Lewis W., Jr., Capt., 45th Mass. 
Wetherbee, Oren, 4th Heavy Art. 

















THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 


465 


GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. 

As an outgrowth of the war, soon after its close the soldiers 
of the army founded an organization called “ The Grand Army 
of the Republic.” 

The design of the organization was : — 

1st. To preserve and strengthen the kind and fraternal 
feelings awakened by companionship amid the perils of the 
march and of the battle, and to perpetuate the memory and 
history of the dead. 

2d. To lend a helping hand to comrades enfeebled by the 
exposures of the war, and to extend needful aid to the widows 
and orphans of the fallen. 

3d. To maintain allegiance to the laws of the land, and to 
encourage and promote patriotism and loyalty among all classes. 


Huntington Frothingham Wolcott Post 102 G.A.R., Dept, of 
Massachusetts. 

The Milton Post, named in honor of Lieutenant Wolcott, 
was organized April 10, 1879, having for the first commander 
J. Walter Bradlee, who was succeeded by George A. Fletcher. 
Charles E. C. Breck is the present commander. There are upon 
its rolls some sixty comrades, who annually gather on the 30th 
of May around the graves of the departed ones, and pay a 
beautiful and touching tribute to their memory. They are 
equally mindful of the living and dependent, having expended 
hundreds of dollars in relief. Upon the death of a comrade the 
sum of forty dollars is donated towards his funeral expenses. 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


CHAPTER XIY. 

MILTON CEMETERY. 

“ When 1 look upon the tombs of the great , every motion of 
envy dies ; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful , every in¬ 
ordinate desire forsakes me; when I meet with the grief of 
parents upon the tombstone , my heart melts with compassion; when 
I see the tombs of the parents themselves , I reflect how vain it is to 
grieve for those whom we must quickly follow ; when I see kings 
lying beside those who deposed them; when I behold rival wits 
placed side by side , or the holy men who divided the world with 
their contests and disputes ,— I reflect with sorrow and astonish¬ 
ment on the frivolous competitions , factions , and debates of man¬ 
kind.” — Addison. 

T HE facts and documents relating to Milton Cemetery herein 
presented have been gathered from the Town Records and 
from various other sources. They supply a full and authentic 
history of the Cemetery, beginning ten years after the incorpo¬ 
ration of the town (1672), and extending to the year 1887. 

As no movement seems to have been made to secure a common 
burial-place in Milton until ten years after the incorporation of 
the town, it follows that those who resided within the limits of 
“ Unquity,” before and after incorporation, must have buried 
their dead in Dorchester, or by common consent have appro¬ 
priated one or more places for this purpose within their own 
limits. 

At this time there doubtless were settlements at different 
points along the principal roads, and several hundred inhabitants. 
Twelve years after incorporation the Records give one hundred 
and twenty-five tax-payers, from which may be inferred a popu¬ 
lation of from four to eight hundred or more; it is hardly prob¬ 
able that their only place of burial was the distant cemetery in 
Dorchester. The supposition is that the inhabitants had been 
using the field of Re e elm an (afterwards Redman) for this pur¬ 
pose, and thus were led to fix upon this place as the com¬ 
mon burial-ground. This is the belief of some of our oldest 
citizens. 




fo7, O. h\ jPertborfy. 










































































































MILTON CEMETERY. 


467 


The first notice found in the Records respecting the “ Bury¬ 
ing Ground ” is as follows: — 

The 24 Feby. 1672. Robert Reedman was allowed to be payedd out of 
the towne Rate tene shillings to pay for forty rods of Land for the Burying 
Place apprised and staked out by Anthony Gulliver, William Blake, Robert 
Babcock. Robert Reedman being present and consenting thereto—and 
was agreed betwixed the Towne and Robert Reedman that the towne 
should fence out this forty rods of land, with a sufficient stone wall, within 
two years, from Robert Reedman’s land. — Town Records, vol. i., page 1. 

The above-mentioned lot was about six rods in width on the* 
road, and extended back about seven rods to the rear or south¬ 
erly side of the range of tombs now in the central part of the' 
ground, the most westerly tomb in the range being in the south¬ 
westerly angle of the lot. These tombs are the oldest in tho 
ground, and are supposed to have been built about the year 1719,. 
the town having voted at the March meeting of that year — 

That Capten John Billing shal have liberty to build a tomb in our Bury¬ 
ing Place at the Direction of the Selectmen. 

The Ministerial Tomb was probably built in 1729 ; it having 
been voted at the March meeting of that year —• 

That Mr. Oxenbrig Thacher should have liberty to build a Tomb in our 
burying Place for the Rever d Mr. Peter Thaeher his Father deceased, and 
that Lieut. Henry Vose and Mr. Benjamin Fenno should order the place 
for said Tomb where there may be convenient room. 

This tomb was not built on the Reedman lot. At or previous 
to this time a small addition was made on the easterly side, 
where the avenue and Ministerial Tomb now are, by taking 
some ten or twelve rods from the adjoining land, at that time 
owned by Samuel Henshaw; but of this there is no record. 

As early as 1699 attempts were made to enlarge the burying- 
place; and in that year a committee was chosen — 

To treat with any person that shall appeire to be the tru owener of the 
burying place fild as it is commonly called, for the obtaining an addition 
of land necessary to enlarge our burying place, or to treat of a price for 
the whole tracte, and to make their return to the Town at the next town 
meeting. 

The “ burying place fild ” is supposed to be all that part of 
the Amory lot purchased of C. Breck and T. Hollis, Jr., 
which lies northerly of an old line of wall where the land begins 
to slope off to the swamp or low ground. Nothing appears to 
have grown out of this attempt to enlarge the ground, unless 


468 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


perhaps the small addition where the Ministerial Tomb now 
stands may have been made at this time. 

Attempts to enlarge the ground were made again in 1734, 
1738, 1749, and 1751, but without success, the owners of the 
adjoining land (Samuel Henshaw and William Foye) declining 
to sell. 


FIRST ENLARGEMENT. 


In 1760 Madam Elizabeth Foye and others conveyed to the 
town, by a deed of gift, half an acre and six rods of land to 
enlarge the burying-ground. The only notice of this grant to 
be found upon the Records or files of the town is as follows: — 

At a Town meeting held July 7, 1760. “ Voted to choose a committee 

to take security of Mrs. Elizabeth Foye of a piece of land joining our 
Burying Place. Samuel Miller Esq. Benjamin Wadsworth and Mr. 
Josiah How was chose a committee for the above said purpose; Voted 
that the same committee return ye hearty Thanks of this Town to Mrs. 
Elizabeth Foye for a grant of a piece of land to enlarge our Burying 
Place.” 

The original deed is lost. The following is a copy of it, 
taken from the Suffolk Records, Lib. 97, Fol. 132: — 

Know all men by these presents, that we, Elizabeth Foye, widow, 
Elizabeth Foye, spinster, and Mary Cooper, widow, all of Milton in the 
County of Suffolk, from a Regard to the Inhabitants of the said Town of 
Milton, and in consideration of the sum of one shilling paid us do Give, 
Grant, Bargain, and Convey unto the said inhabitants half an Acre and six 
Rods as staket by Mr. How of Land in Milton aforesaid, heretofore the 
Estate of Wm. Foye Esq. deceased, the same lying between the now Bury¬ 
ing Ground in said Milton, and Land lately sold to Mr. Josiah Howe of 
said Milton. 

To have and to hold the said half an Acre and six rods as staket by Mr 
How, of Land unto the said Inhabitants for a burying Ground forever. 

In witness whereof we hereto set our hands and seals this first day of 
September, in the thirty-fourth year of his Majestys Reign, Annoque 
Domini 1760. 

Signed, Sealed and Delivered 



in presence of 
Benjamin Fessenden 


Mary Babbidge 

The six rods between the 6 & 7 line 
as also between the 11 & 12 line was 
done before signing. 

Suffolk ss. September the first A.D. 1760 Elizabeth Foye, Elizabeth 
Foye and Mary Cooper personally appeared and acknowledged the above 
Instrument to be their deed. 


Sam 1 . Miller, Jus. Peace. 


FebL 4, 1762. Received and accordingly Entered 
and Examined. P r Ezek l 


P r Ezek l Goldthwait, Iieg r 



MILTON CEMETERY. 


469 


The Foye lot is situated on the westerly and southerly sides 
of the Reedman lot, being bounded westerly by the easterly side 
of the central avenue of the present ground (Old Cemetery), 
and extending back some six or seven rods in rear of the Reed¬ 
man lot. 

At the time of the above enlargement the ground had 
become filled with graves, and the supposition is that a few 
burials had already been made upon the Foye lot. 

SECOND ENLARGEMENT. 

The next enlargement was made Sept. 15, 1794, by the pur¬ 
chase of three-quarters of an acre of land, at the rate of 
£24 per acre ; viz., half an acre and twenty-two and a half 
rods from the heirs of Deacon How, and seventeen and a half 
rods from Col. Joseph Yose. 

The How lot is directly in the rear of the Foye lot, extend¬ 
ing back nine rods to the present southerly bounds of the Old 
Cemetery, and includes also a strip of land ten feet wide on the 
westerly side of the burying-ground, “ to be reserved for a 
lane,” — which lane is now the central avenue. 

The Vose lot is a strip of land about a rod wide on the east¬ 
erly side of the Foye and How lots, which was reserved for 
and is now occupied by tombs. 

THIRD ENLARGEMENT. 

April 21, 1887. Francis Amory, Esq., “in consideration of 
one dollar and divers other good causes,” conveyed to the 
town of Milton, for the purpose of enlarging the “ graveyard ”. 
of said town, a lot of land adjoining the same, containing by 
estimation one acre and one quarter. This embraces that tract 
lying between the central avenue and the wall, recently re¬ 
moved. 


FOURTH ENLARGEMENT. 

Dec. 11, 1854. The town purchased of Charles Breck and 
Thomas Hollis, Jr., eighteen acres and one hundred and six¬ 
teen rods of land, for the sum of $1,804. This tract lies in 
the rear and on the westerly side of the Old Cemetery, embrac¬ 
ing all of the “ burying place fild,” and extending through the 
swamp and over the opposite hill. This new lot, being long 
and narrow, and reaching an inconvenient distance from the 
main entrance, required an additional avenue to the highway; 
hence the 


470 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


FIFTH ENLARGEMENT. 

April 21, 1858. Joseph McKean Churchill, Esq., “in con¬ 
sideration of the sum of one hundred and twenty-five dollars, 
and from love and affection for my native town and the inhabi¬ 
tants thereof, in order to furnish a convenient access to the 
New Cemetery lately purchased and laid out by said town,” 
conveyed to the town a lot of land on the easterly side of 
Gun-Hill road, containing one acre, and opening the southern 
part of the Cemetery to Gun-Hill road. 

SIXTH ENLARGEMENT. 

For the purpose of straightening the wall on the easterly side 
of the Cemetery , and bringing the wall of the New Cemetery in 
line with that of the Old Cemetery, C. M. S. Churchill, Esq., 
“ from regard to his native town and in consideration of one 
dollar,” conveyed to the town the necessary amount of land, by 
deed, Feb. 10, 1870. 

SEVENTH ENLARGEMENT. 

At the March meeting, 1874, the trustees were authorized 
to purchase twelve acres of land lying on the easterly side of 
the Cemetery and extending from Centre street to the rear line 
of the grounds. 

The purchase was made at once; the new grounds were en¬ 
closed and connected by avenues and paths with the old, and 
made ready for use. 

The whole amount of land now embraced in the Cemetery is 
as follows: — 

By survey of Thomas Crehore, 1794, 1 acre, 2 quarters, 18 rods. 

Amory grant, 1837, 1 acre, 1 quarter. 

Town purchase, 1854, 18 acres, 2 quarters, 36 rods. 

J. M. Churchill grant, 1858, 1 acre. 

C. M. S. Churchill grant, 1870, 8 rods. 

Town purchase, 1874, 12 acres. 


Total, 34 acres, 2 quarters, 20 rods. 

Here follow a few cases of the action of the fathers for the 
protection and care of the burial-place: — 

1689. At the Selectmen Meeting on the 9 th day of December 1689, we 
agreed with Enoch Badcock to procure bords and nails, and to fence in our 
burying place, he using the posts allready brought to place for the same 
use, he being to procure and do as above sd. at mony price, and we do 




MILTON CEMETERY. 


471 


Ingage to pay him the said Badcock in Oates at twelve pence pr bushill, 
Indian Corn at tow Shillings pr bushill, ry if any, at tow Shillings pr 
bushill, it is to be understood that the sd. Badcock is to be paid for his 
stuf as soon as it is brought to the place, before he sit it up. — Town 
Records, Vol. i., page 104. 

1697-8. At a Town meeting held March 25, 1697-8, Edward Yose, 
Samuel Miller and John Fenno Jun r were chosen a Committy to agree with 
and to procure two sides of the burying place fenced with a good sufficient 
Stone wall of four feet and a half hye, and to fence the other two sides for 
the present with the ould posts and bords already there. — Town Records. 

1761. Voted, That Mr. Josiah How improve our Burying Place for 
the space of five years, by feeding of sheep to subdue the bushes and briers 
that are therein.”— Town Records, Yol. ii., page 286. 


THE PATRIOT SOLDIERS’ HONORED GRAVES. 


“ Non sibi sed Patrice.” 

1861 . 1865 . 


Angier, William R. . 
Baxter, George O.. . 
Bent, Josiah, Jr. . . 
Bronsdon, Amos H. . 
Bronsdon, Charles . 
Caswell, Joseph D. . 
Churchill, Joseph M. 
Clark, George E. . . 
Clark, Philip C. . . . 
Clayton, Thomas . . 
Clayton, William . . 
Cowan, Abel A.. . . 
Cozzens, Samuel W. 
Cushing, Henry F. . 


Frye, Samuel G. 
Gardner, William R. 
Hall, George W., Jr. 

Holmes, C. C. 

Hopkins, Edward F. 
Howard, William A. 
Howe, George W. . 
Hunt, Charles C. . . 
Hunt, Elijah . . . . 
Hunt, Isaiah . . . . 
Hunt, Samuel, Jr. . . 
Jackson, Albert. . . 
Long, George . . . 
Martin, Albert T. B. 
Morton, Joseph W. . 
Myers, Nathaniel T. 
Hye, Hiram T. . . . 
Packard, Albert S. . 


Captain 

Musician 

Private 

Private 


Private 

Corporal 

Lieut. 


Private 

Lieut. 

Private 


Private 

Colonel 

Captain 

Captain 

Private 

Private 

Private 

Private 

Private 

Lieut. 

Private 

Private 

Captain 

Private 

Private 

Private 


Penn. Vols. 

1st Mass. Inf. 
1st Wis. Cav. 
13th Mass. Inf. 
38th Mass. Inf. 
60th Mass. Inf. 
45th Mass. Inf. 
20th Mass. Inf. 
18th Mass. Inf. 
24th Mass. Inf. 
Ship New Iron' 
sides, U.S.N. 
16th N.Y. 

Heavy Art. 
Staff Officer 
with Gen. 
Butler. 

43d Mass. Inf. 


Sept. 

May 3,1863 
Nov. 9, 1863 
Jan.19,1863 
1884 


Ship Lafayette, 

38th Mass. Inf. 
Cadets. 

7th Mass. Inf. 
U.S.A. 

4th Mass. Cav. 
38th Mass. Inf. 
42d Mass. Inf. 
35th Mass. Inf. 
40th Mass. Inf. 
38th Mass. Inf. 
2d Mass. Batt’y 
38th Mass. Inf. 
4th Mass. Cav. 
1st Mass. Cav. 
38th Mass. Inf. 
7th Mass. Inf. 


Milton 

Chancellorsville, Va. 
Kenosha, Wis. 
Pratt’s Landing, Va. 
Milton 
Marshfield 
Milton 


Sept.21,1862 
July 14,1864 
Feb. 21,1886 
Apr.20, 1885 
May 1,1865 
July 16,1885 


Place of Death. 


Hyde Park 
Alexandria, Va. 
Cumberland, Ky. 
Washington, D.C. 
Milton 

Frederick Hospital 

Milton 

Milton 


Nov.20,1870 Dorchester 
Nov.27,1878 Milton 
Apr. 6, 1868 New Hampshire 
Dec. 17,1862'Washington, D.C. 
May, 18651 Maryland 
1865IBoston 
1870 Milton 

1863 Port Hudson, La. 

1864 Milton 

1863 Hilton Head, S.C. 
1878 Boston 


May, 

Feb. 

June, 

Dec., 


Cause of 
Death. 


Disease. 
Killed in 
action. 
Disease. 
Disease. 
Disease. 
Disease. 

Disease. 


R.R. ac¬ 
cident. 
Disease. 
Disease. 
Disease. 
Disease. 
Wounds 
Disease. 
Accident 

Disease. 


Disease. 

Wounds 

Disease. 

Disease. 

Disease. 

Wounds 

Disease. 

Disease. 

Disease. 

Disease. 



















472 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


The Patriot Soldiers’ Honored Graves. — Continued. 


Name. 




Perkins, Stephen G. 


Lieut. 


Reed, J. Sewall. . . Captain 
Rice, Daniel G-.. . . Private 
Roberts, William H. 


Shedd, William H. . 
Snow, J. Henry . . . 
Thacher, George . . 
Thayer, Frederick A. 
Tucker, Walter R. . 
Vose, George Ellis . 


Private 

Private 

Lieut. 

Private 

Private 

Private 


Ward, Charles W. 


Private 


Watson, Edgar . . . Private 
Weston, George T. . Private 


Wetherbee,Horace 3S\ 


Private 


White, John Philips 
Payson. 


Surgeon 


Co! 

Regiment. 

Date of 
Death. 

Place of Death. 


2d Mass. Inf. 

Aug. 9,1862 

Cedar Mountain 


2d Mass. Cav. 

Feb. 22,1864 

Drainsville, Ya. 

K 

45th Mass. Inf. 

1879 


• ! 

1st Mass. 
Heavy Art. 

Mar. 13,1883 

Milton 

A 

18th Mass. Inf. 

Jan., 1883 

Boston 

B 

45th Mass. Inf 




6th Mass. Inf. 

Sept., 1864 

Fort Delaware, Md. 

*e‘ 

7th Mass. Inf. 

1865 


G 

5th Mass. Cav. 

Oct., 1863 


I 

38th Mass. Inf. 

Jan., 1863 

Milton 

cj 

2d Mass. 




Heavy Art. 



L 

4th Mass. Cav. 

1887 


D 

22d Mass. Inf. 



g! 

4th Mass. 



Gj 

Heavy Art. 




lOthN.Y.Vols. 

Hew York 



Cause of 
Death. 


Killed in 
action. 
Killed in 
action. 

Disease. 

Disease. 

Disease. 

Disease. 


Disease 

Disease 



Disease. 


LOTS "UNDER 

THE 

PEEPETUAL CAEE 

OF THE TOWN. 

Clapp, J. J. . 


Money Deposited. 

$800 

Location. 

Oak Avenue. 

Durell, H. G. . 


150 

Old Cemetery. 

Durell, J. 


150 

Pine Avenue. 

Frost, W. R. . 


150 

Pansy Avenue. 

Gulliver, I. C. 


150 

Old Cemetery. 

Hobart, C. 


150 

Elm Avenue. 

Hollingsworth, A. . 


300 

Jasmine Path. 

Hollingsworth, J. . 


300 

Jasmine Path. 

Kidder, C. A. . 


300 

Ivy Path. 

Kidder, H. P. . 


300 

Ivy Path. 

Littlefield, S. . 


200 

Old Cemetery. 

Peabody, 0. W. 


300 

Ivy Path. 

Rimmer, C. 


150 

Pine Avenue. 

Ruggles, J. 


300 

Old Cemetery. 

Semple, J. 


200 

Myrtle Path. 

Sneden, M. 


150 

Old Cemetery. 

Sumner, J. 


300 

Willow Avenue. 

Taylor, C. 


300 

Old Cemetery. 

Tucker, E. 


200 

Pine Avenue. 

Vose, Josiah H. 


350 

Old Cemetery. 
Thistle Avenue. 

Wild, B. S. . 


50 


POEM OF OBLIGATION FOE PEEPETUAL CAEE. 

3Btnoin all men tfiese presents. That whereas, under and by virtue of 
the provisions of chapter two hundred and twenty-five of the acts and re¬ 
solves passed by the General Court of Massachusetts, in the year eighteen 
hundred and seventy. 































MILTON CEMETERY. 


473 


proprietor of lot No.in the Public Cemetery of the Town of Mil- 

ton, ha paid to the Trustees of said Cemetery, to be deposited in the Treas¬ 
ury of said town, the sum of..dollars, 

for the purposes mentioned in said act. 

Now, therefore, in consideration of said sum of. 

dollars, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, the said Town of 

Milton covenants and agrees with the said. 

as follows: — 

That the Treasurer of said Town shall annually pay over to the Trustees 
of said Cemetery for the time being, a sum of money equivalent to six per 
cent, of said sum. 

That the Trustees shall cause the sum which shall annually be paid to 
them by the Town Treasurer, as aforesaid, to be expended in the care and 
keeping of said lot; and shall forever cause the grass which shall grow 
upon said lot to be cut and removed therefrom, at such times and in such 
manner as they shall deem most expedient for the interest of said Ceme¬ 
tery. 

Provided, nevertheless, that the Town of Milton, by a vote of the Trus¬ 
tees of said Cemetery, may at any time annul and cancel this agreement by 

paying to the said...or. 

., heirs, representatives, or assigns, the aforesaid sum of. 

.:.dollars. 

In witness whereof, the said Trustees, in behalf of said Town, have 
caused these presents to be signed and sealed by the Chairman of said 

Trustees, thereunto duly authorized, this.day of 

....in the year eighteen hundred and. 


. Chairman. 

.. 18 

page. 

. Town Clerk. 

A second form of obligation is like the above, with the ad¬ 
dition of the following clause : — 

Also shall keep the borders of the said lot planted with flowers during 
the season for such planting. 

A third form embraces the others, with the following addi¬ 
tional clause : — 

And shall forever keep said lot and the structures herein described, viz., 
.[but no others], in good repair and pres¬ 
ervation. 

BY-LAWS OF MILTON CEMETERY. 

Enacted March, 1887. 

I. The sole care, superintendence, and management of the Cemetery 
shall be intrusted to a board of five trustees, to serve for Ihe period of five 
years ; one of said board shall retire and a new member be elected at each 
annual March meeting of the town. 


Signed, sealed and delivered 
in presence of 

Milton, 

Received and recorded at this office in Book. 






















474 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


II. Citizens of Milton who are heads of families shall be entitled to lots 
in the Cemetery free of expense, allowing one lot to a family, subject to the 
regulations adopted by the town. 

III. The trustees, when in their judgment it shall be deemed advisable, 
may sell lots at the rate of fifty cents a square foot, hut only to those who 
are in some way connected with Milton people. 

IV. The proprietor of each lot shall cause to be erected, at his own 
expense, corner-stones, and a step with his name and the number of the lot 
inscribed on the same, and shall cause his lot to be kept in proper order; 
and if the proprietor shall omit, for thirty days after notice, to erect such 
land-marks and to keep the lot in order, the trustees shall have authority to 
have the same done at the expense of said proprietor. 

V. No lot shall be used for any other purpose than as a place of burial 
for the dead; and no proprietor shall suffer the remains of any person to 
be deposited within the bounds of his lot for hire; nor shall any proprietor 
sell or transfer the whole or any part of his lot without the consent of the 
trustees. 

VI. If, in the judgment of the trustees, any trees or shrubs in any lot 
shall become deti'imental to the adjacent lot or avenues, or dangerous or 
inconvenient, it shall be the duty of said trustees for the time being to 
enter upon said lot and to remove said trees and shrubs, or such parts 
thereof as are thus detrimental, dangerous, or inconvenient. 

VII. There shall be no structure nor inscription placed in, upon, nor 
around any lot, which the trustees for the time being shall deem offensive 
or improper, and it shall be the duty of the trustees to remove all offensive 
or improper objects. 

VIII. The trustees for the time being shall have authority to purchase 
any tomb in Milton Cemetery offered for sale, paying for the same such 
sums as, in their judgment, may be fair and reasonable. They shall also 
be authorized to give for any tomb, a lot, to be constructed on the land 
occupied by the tomb, or to be selected at some other point in the Cemetery 
grounds, as they may agree with the proprietor of the same. Should there 
be no living proprietors or legal representatives of a tomb, the trustees may 
take possession of such tomb, carefully removeits contents to a lot pre¬ 
pared for the pui’pose, and erect over the remains a suitable memorial stone. 

IX. The following regulations shall be posted within the Cemetery : — 

1. All persons are prohibited from driving upon the borders. 

2. No horse can be left upon the grounds without a keeper, unless 
fastened to posts provided for the purpose. 

3. All persons are prohibited from discharging fire-arms within the 
grounds of the Cemetery, except in case of military funerals. 

4. All persons are prohibited from writing upon, or otherwise defacing 
any sign, monument, fence, or other structure. 

5. All persons are prohibited from gathering flowers or breaking any 
tree, plant, or shrub. 

6. Dogs are not allowed within the Cemetery grounds. 


BENEFACTORS OF MILTON CEMETERY. 

In the year 1760 Madam Elizabeth Foye conveyed to the 
town, by deed of gift, “ half an acre and six rods of land to en¬ 
large the burying-ground.” 

April 21,1837,Francis Amory, Esq., “in consideration of one 
dollar, and divers other good reasons,” conveyed to the town of 




MILTON CEMETERY. 


475 


Milton, for the purpose of enlarging the graveyard of said town, 
a lot of land adjoining the same containing, by estimation, one 
acre and a quarter. At the same time Mr. Amory made a 
donation to the town of $500, the income of which to be an¬ 
nually expended in the care of the graveyard. 

In connection with these gifts of Mr. Amory two citizens of 



Boston, proprietors of tombs in the Cemetery, Mr. Daniel L. 
Gibbons, the son of John Gibbons, a former resident of Milton, 
and Hon. Elijah Yose, son of Col. Elijah Vose, late of Milton, 
undertook the improvement of the grounds, which had long suf¬ 
fered from neglect. They increased their own liberal subscrip¬ 
tions for this purpose by various sums secured from other 
non-residents, and, besides much other work, set all the large 
elm, evergreen, and other trees now shading the grounds of the 
Old Cemetery. They also set the lines of elms along the 
south and west sides of the Cemetery, outside of the grounds, as 



















476 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


they then were, on land of Mr. Amory, who, in his deed of gift 
to the town, embodied the right to plant such trees, and to enter 
upon the land from time to time to cultivate and reset the 
same. This right proved in the end of no small advantage to 
the town. Mr. Churchill gave the same right on the east side. 

In 1854, or thereabouts, Thomas Hollis, Jr., and Charles Breck 
were appointed by the town to take into consideration the en¬ 
largement of the burial-place, and to report. The land abutting 
the Cemetery on the south and west belonged to the estate of 
Francis Amory; at this time Joseph Sias was negotiating for 
the purchase of the same, and had closed an agreement subject 
to good title ; but finding the right of the town to enter upon 
said land for the cultivation and resetting of said trees, he re¬ 
linquished the bargain. Thereupon Messrs. Hollis and Breck, 
without waiting for the action of the town, purchased the whole 
tract, and subsequently conveyed the larger portion of it to the 
town at the price of their purchase. This tract of eighteen 
acres embraces that land, from the earliest times, known as 
“ Burying-place fild,” which, it may not be fanciful to suggest, 
may have taken its name from the burial of the Indian Sachem 
Nanepashemet, referred to in the chapter on “Aboriginal In¬ 
habitants — 

Not far from this place in a bottom, they came upon a palisadoed fort, 
within which was a house wherein being dead he lay buried. 

The action of the non-residents awakened a deeper interest in 
the care of the Cemetery, but no very marked change was ap¬ 
parent until 1865, when, under the guidance of the Rev. Francis 
Cunningham, the work of improving and embellishing the 
Cemetery grounds received an impulse which has never been lost. 
More recent benefactions to Milton Cemetery are as follows: 
Miss Sarah Yose bequeathed $1,000 for the care of two lots 
and for other purposes. Mr. E. G. Tucker left by will a legacy 
of $1,000 for the special benefit of the Old Cemetery. 

TOMBS. 

There are sixty-four tombs in the Cemetery. The original 
proprietors of the tombs are known; but, with all the time and 
pains that could be given to this matter, it only has been possi¬ 
ble to secure an accurate list of the persons deposited in twenty- 
five of these tombs; hence the whole record is omitted, except 
that of the Ministerial Tomb. Several of the tombs have been 
given up, and the remains have been buried in lots furnished 
by the town. Many proprietors of tombs, not satisfied with 
this form of burial, are contemplating like action. 




MILTON CEMETERY. 


477 


MINISTERIAL TOMB. 

“ Erected 1729. To be, abide, and remain forever to be a Ministerial Tomb.” 

Here ly the remains of M rs Susanna Thacher [second wife of Rev. Peter 
Thacher], who died Sept. 4 th , 1724 Mt. 59 years. Rev. Peter, first Pastor 
of the Church in Milton, who died Uec r 17 th , 1727, in the 77 th year of his 
age, and the 47 th of his Pastorate. 

M rs Elizabeth Taylor, wife of the Rev. John Taylor, who died April 17 th , 
1735, iEt. 27 years. 

Rev. John Taylor, who died Jan. 26 th , 1750, in the 46 th year of his 
age. 

Edward Sherburn Taylor, aged 14 days, 1750. 

Samuel Gile, Jr., died Oct. 5, 1827, aged 18 years. 

Samuel Gile, D.D., died Oct. 16, 1836, aged 56 years. 

Mary H. Gile, wife of Samuel Gile, D.D., died June 25, 1862, aged 83 
years. 

Samuel W. Cozzens, D.D., died Aug. 7, 1875, aged 75 years. 


NOTED GRAVES. 

While it would be an unnecessary work to gather up and 
enter here the names of the many illustrious men who have 
been buried in Milton Cemetery, — divines, statesmen, scholars, 
and military heroes, — and to designate the exact locality where 
they lie, it may be expedient to do this in the case of two noted 
persons who have died in the last decade, and whose graves are 
often sought for, — the artist, Dr. William Rimmer, and the 
orator, Wendell Phillips. 

Entering the Cemetery on Centre street at the westerly gate, 
and passing along Willow avenue down the hill, through the 
valley of the pond to Oak avenue, the second on the right; then 
up this avenue, on the first left-hand point formed by Pine 
avenue and Lilac path will be found the grave of Dr. Rimmer, 
lot No. 294. Thence passing up Hemlock avenue to Laurel 
path, the first on the left, and a short distance up Laurel path 
on the left side is the grave of Wendell Phillips, lot No. 349. 

In order to rescue from oblivion the ancient epitaphs on the 
memorial stones of our fathers now marking the graves within 
the Cemetery, we here publish a record of the inscriptions on all 
tablets prior to and inclusive of A.D. 1800. 


478 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


RECORD OF ANCIENT INSCRIPTIONS ON ALL TABLETS IN 

MILTON CEMETERY PRIOR TO AND INCLUDING A.D. 1800. 

A.D. 1687 .A.D. 1800. 

Erected in memory of M r Seth Adams, who departed this life O ct y e 
12 th , 1782, aged 41 years. 

Stop, my friend, and think on me, 

I once was in this world like thee, 

Now I lie mouldering in the dust, 

In hopes to rise amongst the just. 

Here lies buried the body of Seth Adams, Bat r Art", son of M r Edward and 
M r8 Rachel Adams. He died June the 26 th , 1736, in the 23 d year of his 
age. 

Here lies buried the body of M rs Rachel Adams, wife to M 1 Edward 
Adams, who died Noy. the 14 th , 1727, in the 42 d year of her age. 

Here rests our Friend M r John Adams, who departed this life June y e 
11 th , 1790, aged 81 years. 

As corn maturely ripe is gathered home, 

So his remains are brought into the tomb, 

To sleep in silence till tbat glorious day, 

When Christ his light shall roll the stone away. 

Here lies buried the body of M r Edward Adams, who died Sep* the 
22 nd , 1743, in the 61 st year of his age. 

In memory of Sarah Adams, dau r of M r John Adams .& Sarah his wife, 
who died Jan. 28 th , 1766, aged 13 years & 10 mos. 

In memory of Seth Adams, son of M r Lemuel Adams and M rs Hannah 
Adams, who died Jan. 20 th , 1796, aged 11 years. 

In memory of Lemuel Adams, son of M r Lemuel Adams & M rs Hannah 
Adams, who died Jan. 25 th , 1796, aged 13 years. 

In memory of M rs Sarah Adams, late Consort of M r John Adams, who 
died Noy. 16 th , 1774, aged 63 years. 

Death is a debt to nature due, 

As she has paid it so must you. 

In life then strive to get prepared, 

To fly with her to meet the Lord. 

Here lyes y° body of Eliphalet Adams, son of M r . John & M rs Sarah 
Adams. He died Feb. 5 th , 1747, in y e 5 th year of his age. 

John, son of M r . John and M tB Sarah Adams, aged 20 months and 
10 d s , Dec a August y° 28 th , 1735. 

In memory of 2 Children of M r . Nathaniel & M rs Lucy Arnold, viz.: 

Nathan, died Jan. 1 st , 1792, in y e 6 th year of his age. 

Betsy P., died May 3 d , in y° 3 d year of her age. 




MILTON CEMETERY. 


479 


Here lie two children of M r Nathan and M rs Lucy Arnold : 

John, died Dec. 31, 1795, aged 8 years 9 months. 

Betsey, died Dec. 15, 1794, aged 6 months. 

Here lies buried the body of M r John Badcock, Jun r , died April 10 th , 
1767, aged 24 years. 

In Memory of M r Nathan Badcock, who died Jan. 29 th , 1777, in the 
60 th year of his age. 

Here lies the remains of M rs Susanna Badcock, the late amiable Con¬ 
sort of M r Nathan Badcock, who died Aug. 7 th , 1774, aged 55 years. 

In faith she died, in dust she lies, 

But faith foresees that dust shall rise, 

When Jesus calls, while hope assumes 
And breaks her joy among the tombs. 

Here lyes buried y 8 body of M r William Badcock, who departed this 
life M°h 18 th , 1772, aged 54 years & 4 days. 

Beneath this stone death’s prisoner lies, 

The stone shall move, Death’s prisoner rise, 

When Jesus with almighty word 
Calls his dead saints to meet their God. 

Sacred to the memory of M rs Bathsheba Badcock, dau r of M r William & 
M rs Hannah Badcock, who died April 28 th 1792, set. 31 years. 

When this vain life of care and trouble’s o’er, 

We die to live, and live to die no more. 

Here lies y e body of Nathaniel Badcock, Juner, aged 34 years; died 
January y 8 22 d , 1718-9. 

Here lies buried the body of M r George Badcock, dec* M ch 8 th , 1734, in 
y 8 46 year of his age. 

In memory of M ra Mary Bates, widow of M r William Bates, of Wey¬ 
mouth, who died Dec. 30 th , 1799, aged 87 years. 

The sweet remembrance of the just 
Shall flourish when they sleep in dust. 

Vive Mori. 

Erected in memory of M r Samuel Bent, who died Dec. 14 th , 1797, aged 
26 years. 

Early I left my earthly home of clay, 

Which rests in silence till that great day, 

When Christ shall call his children to the skies, 

Then hope in glory with the saints to rise. 

B. Adams, Sculptor. 

In memory of Martha Bent, who died Dec. 4, 1766, in the 66 th year of 
her age. 

Here lies y e body of Rachel Bent, wife to Joseph Bent; died July y e 5 th , 
1775, in y 8 52 d year of her age. 

Here lies y 8 body of Joseph Bent, aged 52 years; died M°h 31 rt , 1728. 


480 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


In memory of M r Eben Bent, who died Sep. 10 th , 1796, aged 59 years. 

This bed, thy dust shall keep in peace. 

In memory of M rs Melanda Bent, widow of Capt. Lemuel Bent, who 
died Oct. 20 th , 1796, aged 67 years, 5 months. 

In memory of Nathaniel Bicknell, son of M r Nathaniel Bicknell and 
M r3 Elizab th his Avife. He died July y e 27, 1775, in y 8 20 th year of his 
age. 

In youth, in time of health, my young friends, 
prepare for death. 

Here lies buried the body of M r Ebenezer Billings, who died Sep. 16, 
1766, aged 47 years. 

In patience and meekness few did him excell, 

Faithful in Milton, where he did dwell; 

Reason we have, and fully trust, 

That his soul is among the just. 

Here lies buried y e body of M r Joseph Billings, who departed this life 
July y e 18 th , 1765, in y e 84 year of his age. 

M rs Maria Billings, wife of M r Ebenez r Billings, who died December 19, 
1785, in y e 40 th year of her age. 

Marian Billings, daug. of M r Moses & M rs Marian Billings, died M c h 
19*', 1732, aged 7 months. 

In memory of M rs Ruhanah Billings, wife of M r Joseph Billings. She 
died Feb. 2 d , 1740, aged 54 years, 

Here lies her rest in peaceful dust, 

Till God in glory raise the just. 

In memory of M r Amariah Blake, who died May y e 19 th , 1792, in y 8 60 th 
year of his age. 

Dear partner of my mortal cares, 

I bid you all adieu, 

I hope to meet above the Skyes 
You and your children too. 

In memory of M rs Susanna Blake, Consort of M r Enos Blake, who died 
Aug. 16 th , 1776, in the 29 th year of her age. 

Here lyes buried y e body of M r William Blake, who died Oct. y 8 15 th , 
1736, in y e 41 st year of his age. 

In memory of M IS Bathsheba Blake, the wife of M r Ziba Blake, who died 
Oct. 6 th , 1778, aged 51 years. 

I once did stand as thou dost now, 

To view the dead as thou dost me, 

But soon you’ll lie as low as I, 

While others stand and gaze at thee. 

In memory of two children, only sons of M r Enos & M rs Rachel Blake, 
viz.: 

Lemuel, died Oct. 2 nd , 1792, in the 14 year of his age ; 




MILTON CEMETERY. 


481 


Stephen, died Oct. 7 th , 1792, in the 7 th year of his age. 

Thus are those flowers wither’d in their bloom, 

By death’s cold hand brought early to the tomb; 

But mark the goodness of the pow’rs above, 

It can’t withhold them from redeeming love. 

They’re safely landed on the peaceful shore 
Where sin, disease & death are known no more. 

Ziba Blake, son of M r Ziba and M' s Susanna Blake, died Aug. 24 th , 1793, 
aged 13 mos. & 16 days. 

Tho’ young, yet not too young to die, 

Prepare for death immediately. 

Make sure of Christ while life remains, 

And death will be eternal gain. 

Here lies buried the body of M' a Elizabeth Bodwick, who departed Nov. 
22\ 1758, in the 60 th year of her age. 

Here lies buried y e body of M r William Bodwick, Dec 4 Oct. y e 15 th , 
1752, in y e 55 year of his age. 

Here lies buried the body of M r Alex' Boies, who departed this life the 
29 th of Oct. 1773, aged 36 years. 

In memory of M' James Boies, who died the 11 th day of July, 1798, 
aged 96. 

This stone fixed here to hold in remembrance the place where the re¬ 
mains of M'. James Nelson Boies are deposited, who died on the 2 d day of 
July, 1782, anno setatis 21 st . 

Here lies buried y e body of M' a Elizabeth Boys, wife to M' Jeams Boys, 
daughter of M r Jeremiah Smith, who departed this life Nov. y e 20 lh 1763, 
aged 32 years. 

In memory of M r Josiah Brown. He died December y e 31 st , 1775, in 
y e 35 year of his age. 

Here’s interred Clarissa, daughter of M' John & Polly Bussy; died 
April 19 th , 1796, aet. 19 months. 

Elizabeth Clap died Dec' y e 20 th , 1701, aged 37 years. 

Here lyes buried y e body of Deac n Nehemiah Clap, who deceased July 
y° 18 th , 1743, in y e 54 year of his age. 

Here lies buried y e body of Ensign Ebenezer Clap, died July 30 th , 1712, 
in y' 69 year of his age. 

George Clark, son of M' George & M' s Lydia Clark, Dorchester, died 
M oh 21, 1770, aged 1 year. 

Seth Clark son of M' George & M” Lydia Clark, Dorchester, died Jan. 
13 th , 1771, aged 5 weeks. 


482 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


In memory of M' 3 Lydia Clark, wife of M r George Clark, of Dorchester. 
She died M ch y e 1 st , 1776, aged 31 years. 

In the book of life divine, 

My God inscribe my name, 

There let it fill some humble place, 

Beneath the slaughtered Lamb. 

Here lies the body of M r Thomas Cradock and Brasilia his wife and their 
daughter Ann, the wife of M r Thomas Edwards, who departed this life 
November 2 a , 1752, aged 24 years. 

Fare well forever then to all that’s gay! 

You will forget to sing and I to pray, 

No more with cheerful songs in cooling bowers, 

Shall we consume the pleasurable hours. 

All joys are banished, all delights are fled, 

Ne’er to return, for A**’s dead. 

Here lies buried y e body of M r Benjamin Crane, who departed this life 
June y e 24, 1771, in the 79 year of his age. 

In memory of Rebecca Belcher Crane, daug. of M r Jeremiah & M rs 
Rebecca Crane, who died Oct. 3 d , 1792, in the 8 th year of her age. 

Here lies two children, sons of M r Jeremiah & M rs Rebecca Crane : 

Charles, died Sept, the 23 d , 1792, in the 6 th year of his age; 

Jeremiah, died Oct. 14, 1792, in the 2 year of his age. 

Here lies the body of M' 3 Abigail Crane, the wife of M r Benjamin Crane. 
She died June 4 th , 1755, in y e 57 th year of her age. 

In memory of M rs Abigail Crane, wife of M r Henry Crane, who died 
Sep. 2 d , 1795, aged 58 years. 

Could grateful love recall the fleeting breath, 

Or fond affection soothe relentless death, 

Then had this stone ne’er claimed a social tear, 

Nor read to thoughtless man a lesson here. 

In memory of M r William Crane, who died Nov. 10,1785, in y e 41 st year 
of his age. 

Isac Crane, son of M' Isac & M rs Pontas Crane, died Oct. 3 d , 1727. 
iEtat 3 years. 

Also Enos Crane died Sep. 8 th 1805, age 20 months. 


Within the old, original grounds is situated the Crehore Lot, 
in which are tablets bearing ancient inscriptions, as follows: — 

In memory of M rs Ann Crehore, wife of M r William Crehore, who died 
M oh 25 th , 1797, M. 70. 

In memory of M r Jsaiah Crehore, who died Nov. 3 d , 1770, aged 77 years. 

M rs Lydia Crehore, wife of M r William Crehore, died Decern' 6 th , 1785, 
in the 26 th year of her age. 





MILTON CEMETERY. 


483 


Here lie the remains of Capt. John Crehore, who departed this life Feb. 
2 d , Anno Dom. 1775, aged 64 years. 

Here lies the body of Timothy Crehore, who died Aug. 15 th , 1739, in 
y e 73 d year of his age. 

Here lyes y e body of M ra Ruth Crehore, she died June 27 th , 1750, in 
y° 82 d year of her age. 

Here lies the remains of Dea n Timothy Crehore, who departed this life 
Dec. 26, Anno Dom. 1755, in y e 67 th year of his age. 

Here lies y e body of Hannah Crehore, daughter of Deacon Timothy Cre¬ 
hore & M rs Mary his wife, died Jan 11 th , 1735, in y e 21 st year of her age. 

Interred in this vicinity are the descendants of Teague 
Crehore, who settled in Milton about the year 1645. 

Here lies y e body of Mary Crehore daug T of Capt. John & M rs Mehita- 
ble Crehore, died O ct . 22 nd , 1748, in y e 21 st year of her age. 

Ambrose Davenport, son of M r Adam & M rs Mary Davenport, died Sept. 
14 th , 1787, aged 3 years and 3 months. 

Life is uncertain, death is sure, 

Sin’s the wound and Christ the cure. 

In memory of M rs Elizabeth wife of M r Lemuel Davis, who died M°h 
28 th , 1795, in y e 42 d year of her age. 

In memory of two children of M r Lemuel and M rs Elizabeth Davis, viz.: 

Sally Tucker died Dec. 18, 1794, aged 5 months; 

Charlotte died M c h 22 d , 1795, aged 3 years. 

Here lies buried the body of M r John Dickerman, who died 14 th of 
August, 1729, in y' 64“* year of his age. 

Here lies y e body of Mary Fenno, dau T to Benj n & Mary Fenno, aged 22 
years and 27 days. Dec 4 April y e 16 th , 1725. 

Erected in memory of M r Enoch Fenno, who died Sept. 19, 1796, aged 
41 years. 

Adieu, bright soul, a short farewell! 

Till we shall meet in realms above, 

In pleasant groves where pleasures dwell 
And trees of life bear fruits of love. 

Here lies interred the remains of M r Joseph Fenno, who departed this 
life Jan. y e 19 th , 1767, aged 32 years. 

In the cold mansions of the silent tomb, 

How still the solitude, how deep the gloom, 

Here sleeps the dust unconscious, close confined, 

But far, far distant dwells the immortal mind. 

Here lies y e body of M r Robert Field, who died Jan. y e 22 d , 1759, in y e 74 
year of his age. 


484 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Here lies buried y® body of Robert Field, died September 2 d , 1719, in y e 67 
year of his age. 

Here lies y® body of M r Ebenezer Field, who died Dec r y® 16 th , 1748, in 
y® 32 d year of his age. 


Here lies y® body of Mary Field, wife of Robert Field, died April 
y® 2 d , 1799, in y e 60 year of her age. 

Here lies buried y® body of Anna Field, y e wife of M r Robert Field, she 
departed this life y® 13 of November, 1728, in y e 44 th year of her age. 

Mehetebel Field, y® daughter of Robert & Anna Field, aged 3 days, died 
21 st of Sep. 1719. 

Here lies buried the body of M” Hannah Fuller, wife* of M r Benjamin 
Fuller, aged 30 years, died l)ec r y® IS®, 1746. 

Here lyes interred the remains of M rs Abigail Glover, the Consort of 
M r Elijah Glover, the daughter of M r Samuel & M ra Mary Kinsley. She 
died Feb. 8 th , 1760, aged 84 years. 

Hei'e lies buried the body of M r Samuel Glover, who died Aug. 2 d , 1761, 
in the 60 th year of his age. 

Here lies buried the body of M r Elijah Glover, son of M r Thomas & 
Elizabeth Glover of Dorchester, who departed this life July y e 1 st , 1770, in 
ye 45 th y ear 0 f his age. 

Stop here, my friend, and cast an eye, 

As you are now, so once was I, 

As I am now so must you be, 

Prepare for death and follow me. 

Sacred to the memory of M r Elisha Gulliver, son of Deacon Cornelius 
and M rs Ann Gulliver, who died Oct. 31, 1799, aged 23 years. 

“ Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believetli on me, though he 
were dead, yet shall he live.” 

Here lies the body of M re Hannah Gulliver, widow of M r Nathaniel 
Gulliver, she died June 1 st , 1760, aged 80 years and 4 months. 

Here lies the body of M r Stephen Gulliver, who departed this life the 
ninth day of May, 1771, in the 40 th year of his age. 

A soul prepared meets no delays. 

The summons comes, y e man obeys, 

Swift was his flight, and short the road, 

He closed his eyes and saw his God. 

The flesh rests here, till Jesus come 
And calls the body to his home. 

Here lyes y e body of Mary Gulliver, wife to Jonathan Gulliver, aged 
34 years, & 8 months & 5 days, died February y® 16, 170| 

Here lyes y® body of M 1 Nathaniel Gulliver, who died March 25 th , 1743, 
in y® 68 th year of his age. 



MILTON CEMETERY. 


485 


Here lies buried y e body of Anthony Gulliwer, aged 87 years, died Nov. 
y e 28 th , 1706. 

Here lyes y e body of M rs Hannah Gulliver, widow of M r Nathaniel Gul¬ 
liver, she died June l !t , 1760, aged 80 years & 4 months. 

Erected in memory of Sarah Gulliver, wife of Jn°. Gulliver, who died 
Oct. y° 1 st , 1799, aged 64. 

Here lies bui’ied y e body of M r Caleb Hearsey, died Feb. 29, 1755, in 
the 57 year of his age. 

Here lies the body of John Hearsey, w'ho died Dec. 1 st , 1725, in the 66 th 
year of his age. 

Here lies the body of M rs Hannah Hearsey, wife to M 1 Caleb Hearsey, 
died April 4 th , 1742, in the 40 th year of her age. 

Dan 1 Hensher, son of Samuel & Waitstill Hensher, died Oct. y® 25 th , 
1719, in y e 8 year of his age. 

Here lyes y e body of M r Daniel Hanshaw, who died August y e 25 th , 1732, 
in y e 90 th year of his age. 

Here lyes y e body of M rB Waitstill Hanshaw, wife of M' Samuel Han¬ 
shaw, she died May y e 17 th , 1737, in y e 53 year of her age: 

Here lyes y e body of Mary Hensher, wife to Daniel Hensher, died 
November y e 19 th , 1719, in y e 83 year of her age. 

Abigail Holman, wife to Thomas Holman, aged 57 years, died March y e 
1 st , 170f. 

Here lies y e body of Patience Holman, aged 42 years, Dec June 29, 1713. 

Memento Fugit 

Mori , Bora 

Here lies y e body of M r Thomas Holman, aged 63 years died August y* 
4 th , 1704. 

Ffnno Houghton, son of M r Elijah & M rS Mary Houghton, died Jan. 20, 
1773, aged 1 year. 

Here lyes buried the body of M rs Ruth Houghton, the wife of M r Joseph 
Houghton, who departed this life May y e 23 d , 1792, in the 50 th year of her 
age. 

Here lies interred the mortal parts of Deacon Nathaniel Houghton, who 
died M c h y e 13 th , 1732, aged 76 years. 

Cease tears, y e body of a friend 
Ye to y e grave do Only lend, 

A common lot, here Christ has been, 

Triumphant over death & sin. 

He has awoke, so shall the just, 

And gather up their crumbs of dust. 

Comfort, O friend, the gospel cries, 

Seed that is quickened always dies. 


486 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Here lyes buried y e body of M rs Ann Houghton, wife of M r Joseph 
Houghton and daughter of M r John & M rs Ann Williams, who died 
July 14 th , 1773, in y e 22 d year of her age. 

Here lies buried the body of M rs Deborah Houghton, y e wife of Dea. 
Nathaniel Houghton, who departed this life Feb. the 27 th , 1772, in y e 70 
year of her age. 

In memory of M rs Sarah, the wife of M r Isac Howe, but lately the wife 
of M r Lazarus Baker, she died Sep. y e 11 th , 1755, in y e 61 st year of her age. 

Erected in memory of M rs Sarah Howe, Relict of Dea. Josiah Howe, who 
died Nov. 18, 1797, M 81. 

Tired with the troubles & the cares 
A Jong train of four-score years, 

The prisoner smiled to be released, 

She felt her fetters loosed and mounted to her rest. 

Here lies the body of M r Isac How, who died Sept. y c 7 th , 1769, in y e 55 
year of his age. An instance of sudden death in the midst of useful life. 

“ Dangers staud thick through all the ground, 

To push us to the tomb, 

And fierce diseases march around, 

To hurry mortals home. 

But I’ll repine at death no more, 

I’ll cheerfully resign 
To the cold dungeon of the grave 
These dying limbs of mine, 

Since God and my Redeemer lives, 

Who often from the skies 
Looks down and watches all my dust, 

Till he shall bid it rise.” 

Erected to the memory of Deacon Josiah How, who departed this life 
Oct. 3 d , 1792, in the 74 th year of his age. 

Here stands his urn, 

He’ll ne’er return, 

He’s gone to Christ above, 

His body’s dead, 

His spirit’s fled, 

His song’s redeeming love. 

Isac How, y° son of M r Josiah & M rs Sarah How. He died June 18 ht . 
1752, in y e 3 d year of his age. 

Josiah How, y e son of M r Josiah & M rs Sarah How. lie died June 19 th , 
1752, in y e 6 th year of his age. 

John How, son of M 1 Josiah & M rs Sarah How, died Jan y 22 a , 1755, in 
y e 3 d year of his age. 

In memory of Samuel Maynard Humphrey, son of M r Nathaniel & M rs 
Martha Humphrey, who died Sept. 4 ta , 1791, aged 20 months. 

In memory of M ra Rhoda Jones, the wife of M r Joseph Jones, who died 
Oct. 4 th , 1702, aged 55 years. 

Here lyeth y e body of Elizabeth Jones, daughter to M r Timothy & M rs 
Elizabeth Jones, died Dec r 4 th , 1740, in y e 21 st year of her age. 



MILTON CEMETERY. 


487 


Here lyes y e body of M r David Jones, aged 45 years, died May y e 3 d , 
1741. 

In memory of M r John Keith, who died June 8 th , 1796, aged 21 years. 

He whom the Lord doth free, 

The noblest freedom gains, 

Freedom from vice & misery, 

And sins of closing chains. 

Here lies the body of M rs Abigail Kneeland, wife of M r John Kneeland, 
died May 17,1770, aged 33 years. 

The sweet remembrance of the just 
Shall flourish when they sleep in dust. 

Here lies buried the body of M r John Kinsley, who died Sept. y e 13 th , 
1748, in y c 69 th year of his age. 

Here lyeth the body of Capt. Samuel Kinsley, who departed this life 
Oct. y e 2 nd , 1755, aged 58 years. 

In memory of M rB Simeon Lamb of Charlestown, who died of the small 
pox Sept, the 25 th , in the year 1792, and the 21 st year of her age. 

Here lyes the body of M rs Hannah Lankester, Relict of M r William Lan- 
kester, who died April 9 th , 1742, aged 79 years. 

Erected in memory of Miss Mary Mac Carnney, who died Jan. 4 th , 1791, 
aged 20 years. 

Sleep in darkness till that glorious day, 

When Christ my light shall roll the stone away. 

In memory of Mary Milton, aged 23 years, died Feb. 8 th , 1701. 

In memory of M r John Newton, who died Feb. 16, 1774, in the 87 th year 
of his age. 

Here lies the body of Jerusha Park, who died Sept. 23 d , 1767, age 17 
days. Also the body of Sarah Park, who died Sept. 17 th , 1767, aged 11 
days ; children of M r Edward & M rs Jerusha Park. 

In memory of M rs Ester Pierce, wife of M r Charles Pierce, who died May 
10 th , 1787, in y e 23 year of her age. 

Why mourn you thus, my relict friend & kin ? 

Lament you, when I lose, not when I win. 

Here lies buried y e body of Chloe Pierce, daughter of M r William and 
M rs Unice Pierce, who died June 30 th , 1774, aged 8 weeks. 

In memory of William Pierce, son of William & M rs Lydia Pierce, who 
died Dec 1 2 d , 1770, aged 3 years & 3 months. 

In memory of three daughters of M r William & M rs Unice Pierce, viz. 

Miss Deliverance Pierce, who died Sept. 5 th , 1792, Mt 38 years. 

Miss Martha Pierce, who died Feb. 10 th , 1791, JEt 24 years, and 

Miss Unice Pierce, who died Oct. 10 th , 1788, iEt 17 years. 

Lovers and Friends, Oh God! 

By thy resistless frown, 

The gloomy vale have trod, 

And to the grave gone down. 


488 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


In memory of Deliverance Pierce, wife of Capt. William Pierce, who 
died April 28 th , 1748, in y 8 49 th year of her age. 

In memory of M r William Pierce, who died Feb. 1 st , 1793, aged 65 
years. 

“ Why do ve mourn departed friends, 

Or shake at death’s alarms, 

’Tis but the voice that Jesus sends 
To call them to his arms.” 

Here lies buried y 8 body of M rs Elizabeth Pierce, wife of M r William 
Pierce, who died June 6 th , 1735, in y e 67 th year of her age. 

Here lies buried y e body of M r William Pierce, who died April 17 th , 
1731, in y e 72 d year of his age. 

Here lies buried the body of M rs Hannah Pitcher, y 8 wife of M r John 
Pitcher, who departed this life Sept. y e 2 d , 1772, aged about 77 years. 

Here lies buried the body of Thomas Rawlins, aged 70 years. Departed 
this life July y e 7 th , 1693. 

Here lyes buried the body of Abigail Rawlins, aged 72 years, departed 
this life March y 8 20 th , 1711-12. 

In memory of Miss Esther Rawson, dauh 4 of David Rawson Esq. & 
Mrs. Mary his wife, who died of y e small pox Oct. 27 th , 1792, aged 31 
years & 6 months. 

Death a debt to nature due, 

Which I have paid and so must you. 

Tn memory of Miss Sally Rea, the daug 4 of M r Jeremiah Rea and M rs 
Bridget his wife, who died Nov. 11 th , 1792, in the 24 th year of her age. 

Stop, my friend, and think of me, 

I once was in the world like thee, 

Now I lie mouldering in the dust, 

In hope to rise among the just. 

In memory of M rs Mary Ruggles, the wife of M r John Ruggles, who 
died Nov. 23 d , 1773, aged 30 years. 

A meek and quiet spirit she possessed, 

And proved the religion she professed. 

Here lyes the body of M r Thomas Shepard, Dec d Sept, y 8 29 th , 1719, in 
y« gyth year of his age. 

Here lyes the body of M 1 Ralph Shepard, Dec d Jany y e 26 th , 172£, in 
y 8 36 th year of his age. 

Sacred to the memory of Benjamin Smith, paper maker, son of M r 
Richard Smith of North Britain in the Shire of Aberdeen. He died May 
6 th , 1792, in the 37 year of his age. 

Could grateful love recall the fleeting breath, 

Or fond affection soothe relentless death, 

Then had this stone ne’er claimed a social tear, 

Nor read to thoughtless man a lesson here. 


MILTON CEMETERY. 


489 


Here lies the body of John Stimpson, aged 56 years, Dec' 1 Aug. y e 11 th , 
1732. 

In memory of Katherine Soper, wife of Samuel Soper, who died Feb. 
17 th , 1776, in y e 22 d year of her age. 

In memory of Katherine Soper, daughter of Samuel and Katherine 
Soper, who died Jany 16 th , 1769, in y e 5 th year of her age. 

In memory of M rs Elizabeth Sumner, wife of Col. Seth Sumner, who died 
May 9 th , 1784, in the 48 th year of her age. 

Life is uncertain, death is sure, 

Sin’s the wound, Christ the cure. 

Erected in memory of M r Abijah Sumner, who died Feb. 2 d , 1797, in the 
84 th year of his age. 

In memory of M rs Harriet Sumner, wife of M r Benjamin Sumner, who 
died 14 th Aug. 1800, aged 28 years. 

No more, my friend, dont mourn for me, 

I’m gone into eternity, 

Make sure of Christ while life remain, 

And death will be eternal gain. 

Here lyes y e body of M rs Sarah Sumner, wife of M r Josiah Sumner, she 
died Dec. y e ll* 6 , 1741, in y e 25 th year of her age. 

Here lies y e body of Ruth Sumner, daug. of M r Ebenezer & M 1 ' 8 Susanna 
Sumner, died May 24 th , 1754, in y e 21 st year of her age. 

Erected in memory of M r David Sumner, who died Nov. 11 th , 1789, in 
the 72 year of his age. Also his 2 nd wife Mary Sumner, who died Dec. 25, 
1821, in the 89 th year of her age. 

In memory of M r Jazaniah Sumner, who died May 6 th , 1778, aged 66. 
Also his wife M rs Judith Sumner, who died Nov. 5 th , 1799, aged 68. 

So sleep the saints and cease to groan, 

When sin and death have done their worst, 

Christ has a glory like his own, 

Which waits to clothe their waking dust. 

Here lies buried the body of M r Benjamin Sumner, who departed this life 
May y e 28 th , 1771, in y 8 88 year of his age. 

Here lyes y e body of Deacon George Sumner, aged 81 years, died y 8 11 th 
day of December, 1715. 

Here lyes y e body of Joseph Sumner, son of M r Benjamin & M rs Eliza¬ 
beth Sumner,"he died May y 3 22 d , 1731, in y e 21 st year of his age. 

Here lyes y e body of M rs Elizabeth Sumner, wife of M r Benj. Sumner. 
She died Oct. 3 d , 1735, in y e 50^ year of her age. 

Here lyes buried y e body of M r George Sumner, he died Dec. 18 th , 1732, 
in y e 67 th year of his age. 


490 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Here lyes buried y e body of Mary Sumner, y e widow of Deacon George 
Sumner, aged 47 years. Dec d y e 1 st of April, 1719. 

Here lyes buried y e body of Deacon Roger Sumner, aged 66 years, Dec d 
May ye 26,1698. 

Here lyes y e body of M rs Susanna Sumner, wife of M r Ebenezer Sumner, 
she died y e 7 th of July A.D. 1760, in y e 47 th year of her age. 

In memory ofM rs Susan Sumner, wife of M r Jabez Sumner, who died in 
child-bed May l Bt , 1793, in the 40 th year of her age; the child died at its 
birth. 

Here lyes y e body of M rs Susanna Sumner, y e daughter of M r George 
Sumner, Jun. dec d . She departed this life May 11, 1752, in y e 21 st year of 
her age. 

Here lies buried the body of M r George Sumner, died Aug. 26, 1730, 
in y e 27 year of his age. 

In memory of M r Nathaniel Swift, who died May y e 13 th , 1767, in y e 47 
year of his age. 

Here lies interred the remains of M rs Ann Swift, the virtuous consort of 
Samuel Swift, Esq. She exchanged this life for a better May 19, 1762, in 
the 82 year of her age. 

Header, remember thou art born to die, 

Hark from the grave to youth this is my cry, 

Withdraw, prepare, think, Act Accordingly. 

Luke xvi. 31. 

Here lyes y e body of M rs Elizabeth Swift, wife to M r Thomas Swift, she 
died Dec. 12, 1756, aged 32 years. 

Here lyes y e body of Sarah Swift, wife to Deacon Thomas Swift, aged 
75 years, Dec d Feb. y e 4 th , 1717-8. 

Here lyes the body of Betsey Swift, dau r of M r John & M rs Elizabeth 
Swift, died M°h 25, 1774, aged 10 months & 29 days. 

In memory of M rs Rebekah Swift, the virtuous wife of M r Nathaniel 
Swift, who died 6 th Sept. 1793, 2Et 70. 

The sweet remembrance of the just 

Shall flourish when they sleep in dust. 

Here lies interred the remains of Samuel Swift, Esq. who departed this 
life Oct. 13 th , 1747, aged 64 years. 

“ Who never did a slander forge, 

His neighbor’s fame to wound. 

Nor hearken to a false report, 

By malice whispered round. 

Who to his plighted vows & trust 
Had ever firmly stood, 

And tho’ he promised to his loss, 

He made his promise good.” 



MILTON CEMETERY. 


491 


Sacred to the memory of M rs Judith Swift, wife of M r Ebenezer Swift, 
who died April 22 d , 1784, aged 55 years. 

I once did’st stand as thou dost now, 

To view the dead as thou dost me, 

But soon you’l lie as low as I, 

While others stand and gaze at thee. 

Here lyes the body of Lydia Swift, dau r to M r Ebenezer & M rs Judith 
Swilt, who died July 10 th , 1758, aged 4 years & 5 months. 

Here lyes buried y e body of Deacon Thomas Swift, aged 82 years & 8 
months. Died Jam y e 31 st , 1717-8. 

Here lyes buried y e body of M r Thomas Thacher, son of M r Peter 
Thacher, aged 28 years, who died Dec r 19 th , 1721. 

Mrs. Theodora Thacher, y e daughter of Rev. Mr. John Oxenbridge, 
Pastor of y e first Church of Boston, and wife of M r Peter Thacher, aged 38 
years, 3 months & 23 days, was Translated from Earth to Heaven Nov r y e 
18*, 1697. 

This Stone Sacred to y e memory of M rs Sarah Thacher, Consort of y e late 
Oxenbridge Thacher, Jr. Esq r . who died y e 3 d of July, 1764, 2Et 39. De¬ 
mands from thee, oh reader, y e tribute of a tear to her memory, and a 
thought on thine own dissolution. 

In memory of M r Lewis Thomas, who died on his way from Boston to 
his parents M r Hushai & M rs Lucy Thomas in Middleborough, with the 
yellow fever, August 25 th , 1798, in his 28 th year. 

Though the great God who reigns on high 
Hath doomed the race of man to die, 

Yet saints thereby are cleansed from sin, 

And in glory rise again. 

Here lyes buried y e body of M r Samuel Trescott, who died July 30 th , 
1730, in' y e 84 year of his age. 

Here lyes buried y e body of M rs Margaret Trescott, widow of M r Samuel 
Trescott, she died March 19 th , 1741, in y e 90 th year of her age. 

Luther, son of Samuel & Hannah Toplif, stillborn Nov. 16 th , 1734. 

In memory of Mary Paine Tufts, daughter of M r William & M rs Peggy 
Tufts, who died Sep. 2 d , 1791, in the 2 d year of her age. 

Sleep, sleep, sweet babe, and take thy rest, 

God called thee home, he thought it best, 

Wipe off your tears, your eyes let dry, 

We learn from this we all must die. 

Here lye buried the remains of Susanna Tucker, the wife of M r Jazaniah 
Tucker. She departed this life Oct. 2 d , 1776, in the 65 th year of her age. 

Here lies interred the body of M rs James Tucker, who departed this life 
Dec r y e 22 d , 1750, in y e 71 st year of her age. 

Here lyes buried the body of Deacon Nathan Tucker, who departed this 
life Nov. 8 th , 1776, aged 58 years. 


492 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


In memory of M 1 * Mary Tucker, the widow of M r Joseph Tucker, who 
died Oct. 7 th , 1792, in the 59 year of her age. 

In memory of M rs Elizabeth, wife of M r Samuel Tucker, who died M‘‘h 
10 th , 1791, in y e 66 th year of her age. « 

In memory of Mary W. Tucker, daughter of M r David & M rs Mary 
Tucker, died Kov. 22 d , 1792, aged 12 years. 

Thrice blessed are the pious dead, 

Who in the Lord shall die, 

Their weary flesh as on a bed 
Safe in the grave shall lie. 

In memory of M r Joseph Tucker, who died May 22 d , 1789, in the 64 year 
of his age. 

To God I now resign my breath, 

And safely walk the vale of death, 

With Christ I’ve lived, with him I’ll die, 

And pass to immortality. 

Here lyes y e body of M rs Waitstill Tucker, the widow of I)ea n Manasseh 
Tucker. She died March y e 19 th , 1748, in y* 87 year of her age. 

Here lies y e body of M rs Sarah Tucker, the widow of M r James Tucker, 
she died Sept. y e 16 th , 1756, in y e 74 year of her age. 

Here lies the body of Deacon Manasseh Tucker, who died April 8 th , 1743, 
in y e 89 year of his age. 

Here lyes y e body of James Tucker, of Milton, aged 77 years, l)ec d 
Mar® 11 y e 13 th , 1717. 

In memory of Sarah Tucker, daughter of M r Samuel and M rs Elizabeth 
Tucker, who died Feb. 10 th , 1766, in y e 2 d year of her age. 

Here lies buried the body of M r Manasseh Tucker, Jr., the son of Deacon 
Maifasseh Tucker, who died March 10 th , 1730, in the 42 d year of his age. 

Ebenezer, son of M r Ebenezer Tucketyvs Elizabeth his wife. He died 
Sept. 26 th , 1775, aged 10 years and 4 months. 

Here lies buried the body of Deacon William Tucker, who departed this 
life Dec. y e 9 th , A.D. 1771, in y e 64 th year of his age. 

The sweet remembrance of the just 
Shall flourish when he lies in dust. 

“ His works of piety and love, 

Remain before the Lord, — 

Honor on earth and joys above 
Shall be his sure reward.” 

In memory of M rs Mary Tucker, once y e amiable consort of Capt. Jere¬ 
miah Tucker, who departed this life Sep. y e 21 st , 1766, in y e 40 tn year of 
her age. 

In memory of M r Samuel Tucker, who died May 26 lh , 1776, in y e 57 year 
of his age. 


MILTON CEMETERY. 


493 


Here lyes y c body of M re Rachel Tucker, wife of M r . William Tucker. 
She died Jam' 25 th , 1744, in y e 34 th year of her age. 

Here lies buried the remains of Capt. Samuel Tucker, who departed this 
life Dec r 25, 1758, in the 72 d year of his age. 

Here lies y e body of Esther Tucker, dau r to M r Jazaniali & M rs Susanna 
Tucker. She died July y e 19 th , 1755, in y e 13 th year of her age. 

Here lyes y e body of M rs Jean Tucker, widow of M r Ebenezer Tucker. 
She died Feb. 17 th , 1743, in y e 57 th year of her age. 

Here lies y e body of M r James Tucker, son of M r James & M rs Sarah 
Tucker; he died Dec r the 7 th , 1732, in y e 23 d year of his age. 

In memory of M r Thomas Yose, who died March 27, 1775, in the 36 th 
year of his age. 

A soul prepared needs no delays, 

The summons comes, the soul obeys; 

Swift is his flight and short the road, 

He closed his eyes and saw his God. 

The flesh rests here till Jesus come, 

And claim the treasure from the tomb. 

In memory of Moses Voso, who died Sep. 6 th , 1793, aged 21 years, 3 
mon. 2 days. Also Elijah Yose, died Sep. 17 th , 1774, aged 1 year 12 days. 
Sons of Moses & M rs Hannah Yose. 

In memory of M rs Abigail Yose, Consort of M r Edward Yose, Decea d , 
who died Sept. 8 th , 1778, in the 64 th year of her age. 

Here lyes buried the body of Lydia Sumner Yose, daughter of M r Ben¬ 
jamin & M rs Esther Yose, who died May 6 th , 1779, aged 1 month. 

Here lyes y B body of Samuel Yose, aged 21 years and about 9 months, 
Dec d Dec. 13 tn , 1717. 

William Yose, son of M r Nathaniel & M rs Ruth Yose, died Oct. y e 8 th , 
1773, aged 1 year & 14 days. 

“ The sweet delights we here enjoy 
And fondly call our own, 

Are but short favors borrowed now 
To be repaid anon. 

’Tis God that lilts our comforts high 
Or sinks them in the grave, 

He gives, and blessed be his name, 

He takes but what he gave.” 

In memory of M rs Mary Yose, wife of Dea n W m Yose, who died Oct. 25, 
1792, in the 38 th year of her age. 

And their children, yiz.: 

Edward Roger, died July 5 th , 1783, 2Et. 4 years. 

Ebenezer, died July 25 th , 1783, 2Et. 9 months. 

Philena, died Oct. 20 th , 1792, Mt. 11 days. 

Here lyes y e body of Thomas Yose, son of M r Josiah and M rs Ruhamah 
Yose, died May 26, 1778, aged 2 months. 


494 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


To the memory of M rs Lucy Yose, the second wife of M r Ebenezer Yose. 
She died May 30 lh , 1797, aged 58 years. 

Religion against decay can arm, 

And ever lend mortality a charm. 

Here lyes buried the body of Esther Yose, daughter to Benjamin & 
M rs Esther Yose, who died Jan. 28, 1771, age 1 year & 2 months. 

Happy the babe who priveledged by fate 
To shorter labor and a lighter weight, 

Receives but yesterday the gift of breath, 

Ordered to-morrow to return to death. 

In memory of M r William Yose, who died May 13 th , 1776, in the 44 th 
year of his age. 

Charles Yose, son of M r Benjamin & M rs Esther Yose, died August 3 d , 
1793, aged 6 years. 

Here lies the body of Mr Elijah Vose, who departed this life Nov. 5 th , 
1766, in the 58 th year of his age. 

“ Great God, I own thy orders just. 

And nature must decay, 

I yield my body to the dust, 

To dwell with fellow clay. 

Hoping to see Thy lovely face, 

With strong immortal eyes — 

To feast upon Thy wondrous grace 
With pleasure and surprise.” 

Here lies buried the body of M r Edward Yose, who departed this life 
May y e 31, 1770, in y e 50 th year of his age. 

In memory of M r Ebenezer Yose, who died O ct . 2 d , 1788, aged 55. 

The sweet remembrance of the just 
Shall flourish when they sleep in dust. 

Here lies buried M rs Eunice Yose, wife of M r Ebenezer Yose, who died 
June 20, 1707, in y e 31 st year of her age. 

A meek and quiet spirit she possessed, 

And practiced the religion she professed. 

In memory of Miss Polly Howe Yose, who died Dec. 7 th , 1797, aged 21 
years. 

Though early made a sacrifice to death, 

With cheerful hope she could resign her breath; 

Her sickly form she now has left behind, 

And freed from all that could disturb her mind. 

In this grave lies buried Esther Yose, the late virtuous & amiable con¬ 
sort of M r J^athan Vose. She departed this life Feb. 28 th , 1775, in the 23 
year of her age. 

A soul prepared needs no delay, 

The summons comes, the saints obey; 

Short was her life, but well improved, 

She closed her eyes and saw her God. 


MILTON CEMETERY. 


495 


Here lyes buried y e body of Lieu* Henry Yose, who died M oh 26 th , 1752, 
in y e 87 th year of his age. 

Here lies buried y e body of Capt. Thomas Yose, he departed this life 
y' 9th day of March, 1760, aged 62 years, 11 months & 8 days. 

Stand still, reader, and spend a tear, 

Over the dust that slumbers here ; 

And, while you’re musing here on me, 

Think on the glass that runs for thee. 

Fanna Yose, daughter of M r Daniel & M rs Rachel Yose, died Sep. 
9 th , 1775, aged 3 months and 6 days. 

John Yose, Jun., son of M r Joseph & M rs Ruhamah Yose, died Sep. 
ye i 775 s aged 10 months & 6 days. 

Here lies buried y e body of Mr. Lemuel Yose, who died O et . 1 st , 1764, 
in y e 34 th year of his age. 

Here lies the body of Peter Yose, sofL of Capt. & M rB Patience Yose, 
died Feb. 9 th , 1764, aged 18 years, 5 months & 26 days. 

In memory of M re Patience Yose, Relict of M r Thomas Yose, of Mil- 
ton, and daughter of Joseph & Ruhamah Billings. She died April y e 3 d , 
1800, aged 85 years. 

Here sleeps a Christian, full of faith and love, 

She lived in cheerful hope, resigned her breath 
To join her kindred spirits blest above — 

Reader, be such your life and such your death. 

Here lies y e body of M r Jonathan Vose, who died February, 1760, in 
ye 5 Qth year of his age. 

Here lies interred the remains of M rs Abigail Yose, widow of Lieu*. 
Robert Vose, who departed this life Decem r y e 28 th , 1769, in y e 72 d year of 
her age. 

The graves of all his saints he blessed, 

And softens every bed, 

Where should the dying members rest 
But with the dying Head. 

Here lyes buried y e body of Lieu* Robert Yose, who departed this life 
April 20 th , 1760, in y e 67 th year of his age. 

Here lyes the body of M r Edward Yose, Dec d Jan. y e 29 th , 1716, in y e 80 
year of his age. 

Here lyes y e body of Abigail Yose, wife to Edward Yose, aged 65 years. 
Dec d May y° 18 th , 1712. 

Here lies buried the body of M rs Waitstill Yose, widow of Cap* Thomas 
Yose, died Jan^ y e 8 th , 1727, aged 84 years. 


Joseph, son to Elijah & Sarah Yose, died Sep. y e 29, 1735, in y e 4 th year 
of his age. 


496 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Rufus Yose, son of M r John & M rs Mary Yose, died Sep. y e 18* h , 1750, 
aged 18 mon. & 20 days. 

Here lies buried the body of Nathaniel Yose, Juni or , who departed this 
life December 18 th , 1756, in y e 52 year of his age. 

Here lies y e body of Zebiah Uoce, dafter of W m Uoce, aged 17 years, 
died March y e 26 th , 1718. 

Here lies y e body of William Uose, aged 44 years, died Dec. 7 th , 1717. 

Here lyes buried the body of Rubin Yose, son of M r Nathaniel & M rs 
Rachel Yose, died May y e 9 th , 1760, in y e 21 st year of his age. 

Here lyes buried the body of M rs Elizabeth Yose, wife to Lieu* Henry 
Yose, who died Oct. y e 18 th , 1732, in y° 66 th year of her age. 

In memory of M rs Miriam Vose, relict of Robert Yose, who departed 
this life Oct. 25 th , 1785, in y e 57 th year of her age. 

In memory of Rachel Yose, dau r of M r Nath 1 & M rs Rachel Yose. She 
died Sept. y e 1 st , 1775, aged 32 years. 

The sweet remembrance of the just. 

Shall flourish when they sleep in dust. 

Here lyes buried the body of M r John Yose, son of M r Nathaniel & M rs 
Rachel Yose, who departed this life Oct. 27 th , 1752, in y e 27 year of his age. 

Here lyes buried the body of M r Thomas Yose, son of Capt. Thomas 
Yose, deceased Aug. 16 th , 1722, in y e 55 year of his age. 

Here lyes y e body of Eli Yose, son to M r Thomas & M rs Patience Yose, 
he died Feb. y e 8 th , 1749, aged 3 years. 

Mary Yose, daug r to M r Jonathan & M rs Mary Yose, died Nov. 10 th , 
1744, in y e 4 th year of her age. 

In memory of M r Zephaniah Walker, who died July 8 th , 1775, aged 21 
years. 

Come hither, mortal, cast an eye, 

Then go thy way, prepare to die. 

Here read thy doom, for die thou must, 

One day, like me, be turned to dust. 

Here lyes the body of M rs Elizabeth Wadsworth, the widow of Dea n 
John Wadsworth. She departed this life May 6 th , 1766, in the 89 th year of 
her age. 

In memory of Rev. M r John Wadsworth of Milton. Educated at Har¬ 
vard College. Ordained at Canterbury Sep. 17 th , 1728. Died at Milton 
June 15 th , 1766, aged 63 years. 

Here lies buried, waiting for the coming of the Lord, the body of M r 
John Wadsworth, only son of M r John & M rs Abigail Wadsworth, who was 



MILTON CEMETERY. 


49T 


suddenly removed (not without hope) from his lamenting friends into the 
invisible state, May 27, 1752, in the 21 st year of his age. 

Young man, your bones shall flourish as an herb. 

Reader, art thou also ready ? At such an hour as you think not the Son of Man cometh. 

Here lyes v e body of Deacon Ebenezer Wadsworth, aged 56 years & 5 
mos. Dec d Aug 4 y e 1 st , 1717. 

[The Oldest Stone in the Cemetery.'] 

Here lyes y e body of Christopher Wadsworth, aged about 24 years, 
died y 8 4 th of December, 1687. 

Here lies the body of Esther Wadsworth, wife of Benjamin Wadsworth, 
She departed this life July 2 d , 1777, in the 61 st year of her age. 

She constantly manifested entire trust in God, through the merits of 
Jesus Christ, and the most animating and agreeable apprehensions of the 
eternal world. 

A lovely face can smoothe the face of death, 

Bid youth and beauty sacrifice their breath; 

Can tread the gloomy valley without fear, 

And part with all beiow without a tear. 

Here lies buried the body of Deacon Benjamin Wadsworth, who 
departed this life O ct 17 th , 1771, in y e 64 year of his age, having served in y 6 
office of deacon in y 8 Church at Milton, 28 years; he lived respected and 
died lamented. 

How rich y e store 8 of grace lay hid behind 

The vail of modesty, no humand mind 

Can search, no friend declare, nor fame reveal — 

Nor has this mournful pillar power to tell. 

Yet there’s a hastening hour, it comes, it comes 
To rouse y e sleeping dead, to burst y c tombs 
And sety 6 saints in view. All eyes behold, 

While y e vast records of y e skies unrolled 
Rehearse his deeds y‘ spread his worth abroad, 

Y e Judge approves & Heaven & earth applaud. 

Here lyes y e body of Elizabeth Wadsworth, y e daughter of Deacon 
Benjamin Wadsworth & M rs Esther his wife. She died Feb. y 8 14 th , 1750, 
in y e 14 th year of her age. 

Here lies buried the body of Deacon John Wadsworth, son to Capt. 
Samuel Wadsworth, who died Jam 31 st , 173|, in y 8 60 year of his age. 

In memory of Abigail Wadsworth, dau r to y e Rev. M r Jo n & M rs Abigail 
Wadsworth of Milton. She died Jan. y 8 1 st , 1758, aged 23 years. 

When this you see. remember me. 

Sarah, daughter to Recompense and Sarah Wadsworth, aged 12 years, 
8 ms & 28 days. Dec d April y 8 17 th , 1728. 

Here lies inter’d y 8 remains of Lieut. Samuel Wadsworth, who departed 
this life Nov. Anno Dom. 1754, in y 8 69 year of his age. 

Here lyes y 8 body of M rs Mary Wadsworth, Relict of Deacon Ebenezer 
Wadsworth, Dec d M ch y 8 8 th , 173f, in y 8 77 th year of her age. 


498 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


In memory of M vs Sarah Weston, wife of M r Abel Weston, who died 
Jan. 15, 1797, in the 20 th year of her age. 

Swift as the sun revolves the day, 

We hasten to the dead: 

Slaves to the wind we putf away, 

And to the ground we tread. 

’Tis air that lends us life when first 
The vital bellows heave, — 

Our flesh we borrow of the dust, 

And when a mother’s care has nursed 
The babe to manly size, we must 
With usury pay the grave. 

Erected in memory of M r John Willson, who deceased April 17 th , 1790, 
aged 19 years. 

Here lyes y c body of M r Peter White, who died Jan. y e 23 d , 173f, in 
y e 77 year of his age. 

Here lyes y° body of Mary Wyat, 1 wife to Edward Wyatt, aged 92 
years, Dec d Feb. y e 6,1705. 

Sally Young, daughter of M r John & M rs Miletiah Young, who died 
Jan. 4 th , 1791, aged 5 years, 9 months and 7 days. 


1 The following, from the Dorchester Town Records, refers to Mrs. Wyat: — 

“ The Old widow wiate Bing 94 years of age and on that had Layd So many women 
that she was instrimintall for the brinin into the world on thousand on hundred and on 
Children.” 




TRANSACTIONS RELATIVE TO SMALL-POX. 


499 


CHAPTER XY. 

TRANSACTIONS OF THE TOWN RELATIVE TO THE 
SMALR-POX INFECTION. 


O NE of the greatest terrors in the life of the early inhabit¬ 
ants was the frequent invasion of that fell disease, the 
small-pox. 

It is not improbable that this was the malady that swept off 
the Indian tribes before the advent of our fathers. 

That it was sorely felt in our town appears by frequent 
allusions to it in the records. The following extracts from 
the journal of Rev. Peter Thacher, Milton’s first pastor, 
will show its prevalence in this town two hundred years 
ago: — 


Nov. 15. 1689. Margaret Reeding being with us on a visit was taken 
with the small-pox, and we put her to bed in the chamber next the study, 
it was very surprising to us. 

Dec. 26. 1690. There hath died in the Town in sixteen months last past 
SO men, women, and children, 13 of the small-pox, and 17 of other dis¬ 
tempers, most of them of the fever, 14 were communicants, 12 were in 
full communion with the Church, and there hath been sixty six visited with 
the small-pox in the Town in about a year. The small-pox hath been three 
times brought into the Town in the compass of a year; the two first arrows 
were shot, as it were God’s warning pieces — the first was into one family 
whereof one died, and it was out of the Town for a good while, then one 
person was taken and sent to the family which was first taken and it 
pleased God that no more had it; and about four months ago it was sent 
into Daniel Ellen’s, and since 12 have died with it, and it is now in four¬ 
teen families. 

Rev. Thomas Thacher, of the Old South Church, published 
a treatise on small-pox in the early part of his Boston min¬ 
istry. It prevailed with great fatality there in 1702. In 

1721 eight hundred and forty-four died; in 1730 four hun¬ 
dred died; between 1752 and 1764, seven thousand six hun¬ 
dred and sixty-nine had the disease, and five hundred and 

sixty-nine died in the latter year. So great was the panic 
produced by its virulence that many families left the town 
for safety. 


500 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Rev Peter Thacher D.D., great-grandson of Rey. Peter Thacher of Mil- 
ton was born in Milton March 21, 1752, the family having retired from 
Boston on account of small-pox, which, during that season, spread through 
the town.— Mass. Hist. Coll., VIII., 82. 


INOCULATION. 

In 1721, when death seemed to follow in the track of the 
destroyer, Rey. Dr. Cotton Mather, of Boston, called the 
attention of the physicians to the accounts of inoculation, as 
presented in the “ Transactions of the Royal Society.” The idea 
was at once rejected by the medical faculty as unwise and danger¬ 
ous. But one of their number, Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, a native 
of Brookline, an eminent physician of extensive practice, saw 
in the suggestions a gleam of hope. With great courage, but 
with the utmost secrecy, he inoculated his own son, Thomas, 
six years old; his negro man, Jack, thirty-six; and a little negro 
boy, two and a half. The experiment was successful, and, in 
1721 and 1722, he, and others emboldened by his success, inoc¬ 
ulated two hundred and eighty-six, of whom only six died; 
while of the five thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine who 
had the disease in the natural way, during the same period, 
eight hundred and forty-four, or nearly one-seventh, died. 
This was done in the face of great opposition, the selectmen 
of Boston passing an ordinance to prohibit it. But success 
caused it to prevail. It was gradually adopted in this coun¬ 
try, even before it became common in England. 

INOCULATION IN MILTON. 

A few years after its introduction into Boston we see refer¬ 
ence to it in the Milton Records, and fifty years later is the 
following item: — 

March 17, 1777 Dr Amos Holbrook petitioned the Town for libei’ty to 
open an Inoculating Hospital for small-pox in this Town : Voted that the 
prayer of said petitioner be granted provided the petitioner can procure a 
house that, in the judgment of the Select men, is suitable. 

We are informed that Dr. Holbrook procured for this purpose 
the house of Col. Elijah Yose, on Gun Hill street; the Went¬ 
worth house, now the Alfred Crossman house, in the woods, 
between Canton avenue and Hillside street; and the house of 
George Tucker, on land now owned by heirs of Elijah Tucker, 
Brush Hill. 

At a still later date the action of the town was more decisive 
and far-reaching. 



TRANSACTIONS RELATIVE TO SMALL-POX. 


501 


Sep. 1. 1792. The second article in the warrant was to see if the Town 
will grant liberty for inoculation of the small-pox under such regulations 
as they may direct. The Town granted liberty accordingly. Capt. Bad- 
cock, Capt David Tucker, Daniel Yose Esq. Mr. Timothy Tucker, Joseph 
Billings, John Swift, Henry Yose, Dr. Holbrook & Dr. Sumner, were 
appointed to decide what regulations or restrictions are necessary and to 
report to the Town in half an hour. The said committee reported as 
follows: your committee having attended to the vote of the town report 
that the within named houses be licensed to inoculate in with the small¬ 
pox, through the month of September and longer if the Select men think it 
necessary. The whole business to be under the direction of the Select men. 

The houses are as follows: — Mr Enos Blake’s, Mr Peletiah Raw- 
son, Mr Briggs work house, Mr Nathan Vose, Mr William Yose, Mr 
Jeremiah Crane, Dea. How, Mr Benjamin Henshaw, Widow Henshaw, 
Col. Elijah Vose. 

From Braintree line in Scotts woods to Stoughton line; Mr Nathaniel 
Davenport, Capt. Bradlee, Nathaniel Gay, Cornelius Gulliver, Deacon 
Tucker, Mr Robbins house at Brush Hill, Mr Thacher’s, Mr Shepard’s, 
Moses Yose, Stephen Horton’s, Jonathan Yose’s widow’s house. 

VACCINATION. 

In the closing years of the eighteenth century Dr. Edward 
Jenner, an English physician of note, in extensive practice at 
Berkeley, Gloucester, England, had his attention awakened by 
the fact that his attempts to communicate small-pox by inocu¬ 
lation to sundry individuals among his patients in the rural 
districts were unsuccessful. On careful inquiry he learned 
that these persons had been affected with the cow-pox, a dis¬ 
ease not uncommon among farmers, caused by specific sores on 
the udder of the heifer communicated to the human system by 
accidental contact, in case the cuticle happened to be broken. 

With remarkable ingenuity he pursued the subject, and de¬ 
monstrated the fact that this malady could be introduced 
from the animal into the human subject, and propagated from 
one human subject to another, by inoculation, rendering those 
skilfully and successfully treated secure from small-pox. 

The great idea was accepted. Vaccination was introduced 
into the English metropolis, was adopted in the army and 
navy, and spread over the world, waking a thrill of joy in all 
hearts. 


MILTON FOREMOST. 

The year 1809 is rendered memorable in the history of Mil- 
ton by reason of the intelligent and liberal spirit manifested by 
the town in the treatment of this subject. 

John Mark Gourgas was the originator and the lqading man 
in this movement, and, as such, should receive a brief memorial 
notice here. He was of Huguenot descent. His ancestors left 


502 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


France soon after the repeal of the Edict of Nantes, and settled 
in Geneva, where he was born March 9, 1766. In 1783, when 
he was seventeen years old, he went to London and entered the 
counting-house of Mr. Francis Lucadon, a German, and a friend 
of his father. He remained here several years, acquiring a 
thorough business education. When he left Mr. Lucadon he 
formed a partnership with Mr. Daniel Hoofstetter, a wholesale 
dealer in Mediterranean products, and this connection remained 
unbroken as long as Mr. Gourgas resided in England. In 
1798 he married Miss Peggy Sampson, of Radwell, Hertford¬ 
shire. After this marriage he lived in Camberwell, then a dis¬ 
trict of London, and while there formed the acquaintance of 
Dr. John Lettson, through whom he became very much in¬ 
terested in vaccination for small-pox. The climate of England 
had always been injurious to him, and, finding that his health 
became steadily worse, he resolved to leave England and make 
the United States his future home. He sailed with his family 
Aug. 5, 1803, and arrived in Boston Sept. 17. He lived a few 
years in Milton, in a part of the house of John McLean, now the 
Hollingsworth house, at Mattapan, and then removed to Dor¬ 
chester, and in 1817 bought a farm in Weston, where he died 
Dec. 8, 1846. While a resident here he succeeded in interest¬ 
ing the citizens generally, and in arousing the whole town 
to the magnitude of the blessing discovered in inoculation. 
Under his leading Milton led in the Commonwealth and in 
the country. 

Milton was the first town in a corporate capacity to extend 
the benefits of vaccination to all its inhabitants. The town was 
thoroughly in earnest, and acted with the utmost unanimity. 
Numerous meetings were held, at which carefully prepared 
papers were presented, and methods for extending and per¬ 
petuating the blessing were discussed and matured. 

In the end a complete record of these meetings, embracing 
the papers read, and a detailed account of all the transactions 
of the town, was printed in a pamphlet of forty-eight pages, 
copies of which were sent to the selectmen of every town in 
the Commonwealth, and were otherwise widely circulated. 

This pamphlet is now rare, but occasional copies are found 
among our oldest citizens. A letter was recently received from 
one of our early citizens, now residing in Wisconsin, directing 
attention to these papers, and offering to send a copy which he 
had. 

Portions of this pamphlet will here be introduced, with the pur¬ 
pose of showing, more than anything else, the noble and benevo¬ 
lent spirit which characterized the town in these transactions. 



TRANSACTIONS RELATIVE TO SMALL-POX. 


503 


Early in the movement the following circular was sent to 
every town in the Commonwealth: — 

To the Selectmen of each and every town in the Commonwealth of Massa¬ 
chusetts : — 

The security of our families within our homes, and the safety of the 
state of which we are members, collectively constitute private and public 
happiness. 

If that happiness can be disturbed by the sword of an invading enemy, 
is it not also exposed to be blasted by the deadly breath of pestilence ? 
Who has been witness to the desolating scourge of the small-pox but knows 
that its terrors are not in vain? 

Have we not seen at various periods confusion enter our towns, and 
affliction our families ? 

Have we not seen our ablest men, our country’s strength and defence, 
mowed down by the cruel destroyer? Desolation filled our camp, and our 
frontier left exposed. 

Shall we wait for another return of the deadly foe, or by the right im¬ 
provement of a most merciful dispensation, testify a grateful sense thereof 
by securing ourselves and our country for ever ? 

The perusal of the papers annexed herewith will open to your view the 
scheme in contemplation: it has received the fostering support of benevo¬ 
lence, from the highest authority in the state, and was countenanced at an 
early period by our brethren in the five towns of Dorchester, Dedham, 
Canton, Stoughton, and Sharon, who like us have experienced the facility 
and safety of the measure. 

It is now our ardent wish to see its benefits extended to every town in 
the Commonwealth; our joint endeavors we offer to you in the bonds of 
love and peace ; that peace which would depart from us, if this work begunf 
and so far pursued, under a peculiar blessing, was by us forsaken before 
its completion. 

We beseech you, therefore, by every consideration which is dear to man, 
attentively to peruse these papers; to invite your respected ministers to 
consider the contents, and call thereto the immediate attention of the repre¬ 
sentatives of your town, that they may be fully acquainted with the subject 
before their attendance at the next General Court. 

Use your best endeavors to spread them amongst your people, and 
thereby prepare the way soon to establish their security; in your exertions 
you will find the way to peace and pleasantness, for the object of the un¬ 
dertaking, which we call upon you to join, is to diffuse amongst men one 
of the greatest temporal blessings ever bestowed on our race, a perfect 
security against that cruel pestilence the small-pox. 


Samuel Gile, Minister of the Gospel, Milton. 


Jason Houghton, j* tion of said town. 



Jason Houghton, j 

Jedidiah Atherton, | 
Amos Holbrook, J 


Milton, 27tli November, 1809. 


504 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Before issuing the above circular to the towns a communica¬ 
tion had been addressed to His Excellency the Governor, a 
part of which is given below: — 

Milton, 23d Sept., 1809. 

To His Excellency Christopher Gore, Esq., Governor of Massachusetts: — 

Amidst the important cares of the State, your known condescension to 
encourage every attempt which may have a tendency to public good, will 
plead your indulgence for the wish of us, the Selectmen of Milton, to ap¬ 
proach your Excellency, and lay before him the details of the transactions 
which have taken place in our town respecting Cow Pox, or Kine Pock 
inoculation. 

In the early part of the summer a number of cases of Small Pox having 
occurred in the neighbourhood of Boston, a considerable degree of anxiety 
prevailed amongst the inhabitants of our town, and we thought it advisable 
on the 5th July to issue a warrant to call a special town meeting on the 8th 
July, to take into consideration the propriety of adopting some measures 
for a general inoculation of the Cow Pox; the meeting accordingly took 
place, and by their resolves a committee of five was raised, and the busi¬ 
ness referred to them; the cause of humanity will always have to rejoice 
that its interests were essentially aided on that day by the lucid and phil¬ 
anthropic eloquence of our townsman, the Honourable Edward H. Robbins, 
Esq. Various doubts had been expressed at the town meeting as to the 
efficacy of the preventive, and the committee, conceiving that faith alone 
could be the foundation of the work they had in view, procured some 
medical certificates, got them printed, and on Sunday the 16th July, after 
an introductory prayer, they were communicated from the pulpit by the 
Rev. Mr. Gile, and a copy was distributed to every pew; they appeared to 
establish that full conviction which could have been anticipated from the 
respectability of the names affixed to them; of this printed communication 
we beg leave to annex a copy. 

Ur. Amos Holbrook, whose heart was engaged in this work from its 
origin, liberally joined with the committee to carry it into execution; after 
dividing the town into districts, and warning the inhabitants from house to 
house, the inoculation begun on the 20th July at the school house on Milton 
hill, and in the coui'se of a few days it was completed, offering for result 
three hundred and thirty-seven individuals inoculated, of all ages, from two 
months to upwards of seventy years; being more than one-fourth of the 
whole population of the town. 

One Selectman and the Committee attended the Doctor at the meetings, 
and notes were taken of the names and ages of the inoculated, and of the 
result of their inoculation. 

We have to be thankful, that amongst that large number of both sexes 
and all ages, no sickness has interfered during the course of their vaccina¬ 
tion. The inhabitants appeared pleased and so willing to attend, that we 
have reason to believe there is not at this moment twenty individuals in 
Milton, liable to the Small Pox. 

The benefit obtained was great, the labour had been short, pleasurable, 
and easy; our minds anticipated the possibility of a readiness with our 
brethren in the neighbouring towns to adopt similar measures, and we 
were prompted to address communications to that effect to fourteen towns 
in the county of Norfolk, a copy of which we take the liberty to present to 
your Excellency. We have the happiness to learn that in consequence of 
them about three hundred persons have been inoculated with the Cow Pox, 
in Dorchester, and that Dedham, Stoughton, Canton, and Sharon have 



TRANSACTIONS RELATIVE TO SMALL-POX. 


505 


called town meetings, adopted public measures, and raised committees to 
secure their inhabitants. 

On the 26th August, being the adjournment of our town meeting, the 
committee made the following report: — 

A due indulgence for the feelings of our people has suggested the idea of testing with 
Small Pox inoculation, such of the individuals who have gone regularly through the 
Kine Pock, as may desire it; this measure is in contemplation for the beginning of Oc¬ 
tober next; after it has taken place our views are to have a town register made up, wherein 
shall be recorded the names of the three hundred and thirty-seven individuals inoculated 
in July, and to obtain a vote for a periodical inoculation to take place in every year to 
come, and to raise a standing committee to carry the same into effect; thus we hope, 
under the Divine blessing, which has so peculiarly marked our progress until now, to be 
able to keep henceforth our town clear and strong’, as a fortress against the pestilence. 


The house of Mr. Stephen Horton, which was appointed by 
the town as the hospital to test with small-pox inoculation those 
who had been previously vaccinated, stood where the barn of 
John Craig now stands, on that long-existing passage-way open¬ 
ing from Pleasant street, nearly opposite the house of John 
Higgins, and running southerly for a quarter of a mile. To 
this house competent witnesses were summoned, and the experi¬ 
ments were performed. 

Milton, October 10th, 1809. 

We certify, that in consequence of an invitation from the committee for 
vaccination, we attended this day at the house of Mr. Stephen Horton, ap¬ 
pointed as an hospital by the town of Milton, and that the box containing 
a phial of Small Pox matter, provided for them by Dr. Thomas Welsh, 
visiting physician to the Hon. Board of Health, of Boston, alluded to in his 
certificate of the 7th instant, was delivered over to us by Isaac Davenport 
Esq. for our inspection; that we found the seal affixed upon it by the Doc¬ 
tor entire, and to correspond with the seal of his certificate; that it was 
opened in our presence, and the phial enclosed was found sealed up in a 
paper; that the Small Pox matter was taken out of it before us, and in¬ 
serted in our presence by Dr. Amos Holbrook in the arms of the following 
named individuals — to wit: — 


Samuel Alden, Martin Briggs, 

Joshua Briggs , George Briggs, 

Benj. Church Briggs, Charles Briggs, 

Thomas Street Briggs, Mary Ann Belcher, 


Catherine Bent, 
Susanna Bent, 
Ruth P. Horton, 
John Smith, 


represented to us to have been inoculated with Cow Pox in July last, under 
the inspection of said committee, and the attendance of Dr. Amos Holbrook, 
as appears by their town register produced to us; In witness whereof we 
have hereunto affixed our signatures. 

Richard D. Tucker, Member of the Hon. 

Board of Health of Boston. 


Thomas Welsh, Visiting Physician to said 
Board. 

Abner Crane, ? 

Nathan Crane, \ 

David Tucker, 

William Peirce, 

Edward II. Robbins, Hon. 


Committee for Vaccina¬ 
tion of Canton. 

> Selectmen of Milton. 


Joseph Babcock, 
Joseph Bent, 

Josiah Bent, 

Moses Belcher, 

Daniel Briggs, 

Isaac Davenport, 
Stephen Horton, 
Stephen Horton, Jun., 
Joseph Rowe, 

Seth Sumner, 

Elijah Vose. 


506 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


The patients were confined at the hospital, under the custody 
of Mr. Horton, for fifteen days, and at the end of that time were 
discharged with the following formalities : — 

On the 25th. October 1809, according to appointment a number of respect¬ 
able witnesses met at the aforesaid Hospital, and the twelve children after 
being examined by Doct. Amos Holbrook and exhibiting their arms with 
the scar of the Cow Pox inoculation, performed in July last, upon the one, 
and the mark of the impotent effort of the Small Pox matter introduced on 
the 10th. inst. upon the other, were discharged from the Hospital, and a cer¬ 
tificate presented to each of them by the Doctor, the following is a copy of 
one of them: — 


JOSHUA BRIGGS, 


You are hereby discharged from the Hospital, where you and 
eleven more appointed to that purpose have offered to all men, by 
the test of Small Pox inoculation, a convincing proof of the never 
failing power of that mild preventive the Cow Pox. 

Whilst you remain a living token of mercy, your mouth, will 
delight to testify your gratitude, for a blessing great as it is singu¬ 
lar in its kind, so that the hearts of men may unite with yours in 
praise to the Almighty Giver. 


AMOS HOLBROOK, 


OLIVER HOUGHTOX, 

Chairman of the Committee 


Physician 


for VACCINATION. 
Milton, 2 hth. Oct. 1809. 


Milton, 25th. Oct. 1809. 


We certify, that agreeable to the invitation of the committee for vaccina¬ 
tion we attended this day at the house of Mr. Stephen Horton, appointed by 
the town as an Hospital, to test with Small Pox inoculation such of the in¬ 
dividuals, desirous thereof, who were vaccinated in July last under the in¬ 
spection of said committee, and the attendance of Dr. Amos Holbrook, and 
we found there the twelve children who were inoculated with Small Pox 
matter by Dr. A. Holbrook on the 10th instant, as appears by a certificate 
of that date, signed by eighteen witnesses ; that we found their inoculation 
had not taken; that the inflammation occasioned to their arms by the intro¬ 
duction of variolous matter had subsided, the scabs disappeared, and the 
children in perfect health; whereby we rejoice that this additional proof 
should have been obtained of the never failing power of that mild preven¬ 
tive, the Cow Pox, against Small Pox infection, and gladfully have granted 
the present certificate, with an ardent desire, that wherever the same may 
be promulgated it may contribute to rouse the souls of men to zealous ex¬ 
ertions for the organization of a regular system to extend the blessing, and 
thus to attempt to secure our happy land against one of the greatest scourges 
that ever afflicted mankind. 

Benjamin Russell, President of the Hon. Board of Health of Boston. 

Geo. G. Lee, Member of said Board. Joseph Babcock, 

Thomas Welsh, Visiting Physician to ditto. Daniel Briggs. 



Abner Crane, $ 
Samuel Gile, Rev. 


Isaac Davenport, 
Stephen Horton, 
Elijah Vose. 



TRANSACTIONS RELATIVE TO SMALL-POX. 


507 


The pamphlet closes with the following letter from the Gov¬ 
ernor : — 

Boston, 8th Nov. 1809. 

To Messrs. David Tucker, William Peirce and John Buggles, jun. 

Selectmen of Milton : — 

Gentlemen, — I duly received your two communications under date 23d 
September and November 7th, and have read with deep interest the recital 
of your conduct in promoting and attending to the inoculation of the inhab¬ 
itants of Milton with the Kine Pock, and in confirming by the most com¬ 
plete evidence, its infallible security against the Small Pox. 

A copy of the card containing the result of the test to which the efficacy 
of the Ivine Pock inoculation was wisely submitted by the town of Milton, 
is most gratefully received, and will ever be retained by 7 me as conclusive 
proof of the fact it is intended to establish. 

The prudence, care, and vigilance manifested in the measures you 
adopted, to secure the objects of your solicitude, from accidents resulting 
from the use of inefficient matter, or from unskilful and careless practition¬ 
ers, and to verify the efficacy of the Kine Pock in preventing that loath¬ 
some distemper, the Small Pox, entitle you to the gratitude not only of 
those who have been the subjects of your paternal regard, but to the grate¬ 
ful affections of all who are duly impressed with the futility of the disease, 
which may be prevented by the" mildest of all disorders, as has been satis¬ 
factorily established in the United States, as well as in Europe. 

The most extensive circulation of your experience on this important sub¬ 
ject, of the measures you adopted with the cautions you used, is undoubt¬ 
edly the first duty of humanity and patriotism, as it cannot fail of exciting 
the officers of other towns to adopt similar means, especially when the evi¬ 
dence is so perfect of the efficacy of the Kine Pock if administered with the 
watchful attention discovered in every part of your conduct throughout this 
interesting transaction. 

The reasons you suggest for advising that inoculation should be adopted 
by the towns, and carried on at stated periods, under the inspection of 
officers selected for this purpose, and that a record should be made of 
their doings, are satisfactory 7 , if not conclusive of the fitness of your pro¬ 
posal. 

I pray you, gentlemen, to be assured that I am not insensible to the 
honour you do me in supposing me interested in your benevolent views ; to 
promote which, in every relation, I bear to my fellow-citizens will afford 
me the highest gratification. 

I am not apprised of any thing which I can do at present to enforce or 
aid your patriotic design, but if any measure likely to be attended with this 
effect should occur to myself, or can be suggested by others, the same will 
be most cordially attempted by, 

Gentlemen, 

Your obt. servt. 

C. Gore. 

It has not been deemed expedient or necessary to reproduce 
these papers in their entirety; but the somewhat copious ex¬ 
tracts here inserted seem needful to show the significance of 
the movement, and to recognize and perpetuate the noble work 
of 1809. Two copies of this pamphlet are bound up with the 


508 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


“ Milton Documents,” at the Public Library, for the benefit of 
all citizens. 

The policy introduced thus early in the century has been fol¬ 
lowed out to the present day. As late as the summer of 1885 is 
seen the published announcement of Milton’s Board of Health, 
who now hold this in charge, of free vaccination for all the inhab¬ 
itants of Milton who will avail themselves of it, and the caution 
not to neglect so important a duty. 




MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 


509 


CHAPTER XYI. 

MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 

MILTON LAWYERS . 

OXENBRIDGE THACIIER, JEN"., ESQ. * 

O XENBRIDGE THACHER was the son of Oxenbridge, 
who was the eldest son of Rev. Peter Thacher, of Milton. 
At the death of Rev. Peter Thacher his son Oxenbridge, then 
a resident of Boston, purchased of the other heirs the homestead 
in Milton, according to the provisions of his father’s will, and 
removed to this place, where he resided for thirty-five years, 
until his death. Oxenbridge, who was born in Boston, removed 
with his father to Milton. He graduated at Harvard in 1738. 
He first studied divinity, and began to follow the profession of 
his ancestors; but his voice being too feeble for the pulpit, he 
turned to the study of the law. He rose to great distinction at 
the bar. In the critical periods of our country preceding the 
Revolution he became a public favorite. His character and 
habits secured the confidence of the people, while his learning 
and ability gave weight to his opinions. He was ranked among 
the ablest asserters of civil liberty against the encroachment of 
the government. Mr. Adams says, “ They hated him worse than 
they did Otis or Samuel Adams, and they feared him more.” 
He appeared for the people as colleague with James Otis in the 
great case of “Writs of Assistance.” In the report of that 
trial is the following: — 

Thaeher’s reasoning was ingenious and able, delivered in a tone of 
great mildness and moderation, characteristic of the man ; but Otis was a 
flame of fire. 

Mr. Thacher was a resident of Boston during a part of his 
life, and was the representative of that town at the General Court 
for three years, 1763-65; but he never deserted his Milton 
home on “ Thacher’s Plain.” Here was born his son, Dr. Peter 
Thacher, March 21, 1752. He graduated at Harvard, 1769; 
was ordained minister at Malden, Sept. 9, 1770 ; was installed 


510 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


pastor of Brattle-street Church, Boston, Dec. 14, 1785; and 
died at Savannah, Ga., Dec. 16, 1802, aged fifty. Rev. Thomas 
Thacher, of Dedham, his second son, it is believed, was also 
horn in Milton, 1756. He graduated at Harvard, 1775; was 
ordained at West Dedham, June 7, 1780; and died Oct. 19, 
1812. He was an eccentric, but able man. He used to say, “ I 
can preach the best sermons, but Peter will beat me in praying.” 
He preached a funeral sermon at Milton, on the Sabbath after 
the death of Rev. Mr. Robbins, and also gave the address at the 
opening of Milton Academy, Sept. 9, 1807, both of which were 
printed, and may be found in the volumes of Milton Documents, 
Milton Public Library. Oxenbridge Thacher, Jr., the ardent 
and intelli^snt patriot, who had so large a share in the resolute 
stand made for the preservation of civil liberty, was not per¬ 
mitted to witness the triumph of the principles he so ably 
asserted. He died in Milton, July 9, 1765, seven years before 
his father, the aged Oxenbridge. His wife, Sarah, died in 
Milton, July 3, 1764. 

SAMUEL SWIFT, ESQ. 

In 1768 there were twenty-five barristers in the whole of 
Massachusetts. Ten of these were in Boston; of this number 
was Samuel Swift. He was the second son of Col. Samuel 
Swift, born at the homestead on Milton Hill, July 9, 1715. He 
graduated at Harvard in 1735, and studied law with the distin¬ 
guished counsellor Jeremiah Gridley; he was a member of the 
Ancient and Honorable Artillery. He married Sarah Tyler, by 
whom he had one daughter. His second wife was Ann Foster, 
of Dorchester, by whom he had two sons — Foster, born Jan. 20, 
1760, and Jonathan, born 1764 — and four daughters. Foster 
was a physician in Taunton, and was the father of General 
Joseph G. Swift, U.S. Army, who was one of the first cadets 
at West Point. Jonathan became a merchant and settled in 
Virginia. President Adams often speaks of Samuel Swift in 
his diary. He says, 1766 : — 

Spent the evening at Sam. Adams very socially with brother Swift. 

In a letter to William Wirt, who was writing the life of Pat¬ 
rick Henry, he says : — 

Among the illustrious men who were agents in the Revolution must be 
remembered the name of Samuel Swift. 

When General Gage offered the freedom of the town to 
Bostonians who would deposit their arms in the British Arsenal, 



MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 


511 


Mr. Swift opposed the movement. He presided at a meeting 
where it was covertly agreed to use their concealed arms, also 
pitchforks and axes, to assail the soldiers on Boston Common. 
This scheme was revealed to General Gage, and Mr. Swift was 
arrested. He was permitted to visit his family, then at Newton, 
upon his parole to return at a given time. At the appointed 
time he returned, against the remonstrance of his friends, and 
so high an opinion of his character was entertained by General 
Gage that he was permitted to occupy his own house under 
surveillance. From disease induced by confinement, he died a 
prisoner in his own house, a martyr to freedom’s cause, Aug. 31, 
1775. He was interred in his tomb, which had formerly be¬ 
longed to the father of his first wife, Samuel Tyler, Esq. 

SOLOMON VOSE, ESQ. 

He was the eldest son of Gen. Joseph Yose, born in Milton in 
1768. He graduated at Harvard College, 1787, when nineteen 
years of age, in the class with John Quincy Adams and Thaddeus 
Mason Harris. Soon after graduation he established himself in 
trade at Charleston, S.C.^where he was stricken down with a 
dangerous illness. A gentleman of Charleston, Richard Hamp¬ 
ton, took him to his home, and cared for him until he recovered, 
in gratitude for which he named his son Richard Hampton Vose. 
After returning from the South he applied himself to the study 
of law with Hon. Levi Lincoln, at W orcester, and there married 
Eliza Putnam Chandler. He commenced business as a lawyer 
in Northfield, Mass., in company with John Barrett, Esq.; was 
representative to the General Court; United States assessor, and 
first postmaster of the place. Here were born his sons Rufus 
Chandler, George Howe, and Richard Hampton. 

In the fall of 1805 he moved to Augusta, Me., where his 
youngest son, Edward Joseph, was born. Several of his family 
were educated in the college of his adopted State. George 
Howe Vose died while a member of Bowdoin College, at the 
age of nineteen. Edward Joseph Yose graduated at Bowdoin 
in 1825, studied law with Governor Davis, settled as lawyer in 
Worcester, and died there in 1831, when twenty-four years old. 
George Howe Yose, son of Rufus Chandler Yose, graduated at 
Bowdoin in 1850, and settled in Oakland, Cal., in which place 
he is now living. 

Prof. George L. Yose, eldest son of Richard Hampton Yose, 
studied at the Lawrence Scientific School, Cambridge, and de¬ 
voted twenty years of his life to practical civil engineering in 
Massachusetts and other States. In 1872 he was elected Pro- 


512 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


fessor of Civil Engineering in Bowdoin College, where he re¬ 
mained until 1881, when he was called to the same professorship 
in the Institute of Technology, Boston, still held by him. 

Gardiner Chandler Yose, second son of Richard Hampton, 
graduated at Bowdoin in 1855, studied law with his father, and 
settled in Augusta, his present residence. 

The life of Solomon Yose was prolonged but a few years 
after his removal to Augusta. In the midst of a career of use¬ 
fulness and success he died, greatly lamented, in 1809, aged 
forty-one years. 


HENRY MAURICE LISLE, ESQ. 

He was born in the West Indies, and died at Barbadoes in 
1814. He came to Milton in the closing years of the last century, 
and remained until after 1807. He resided in the house next 
to Milton depot, then belonging to Daniel Yose. In 1800 he 
published an oration on the death of Washington. In the years 
1804 and 1806 he was moderator at the annual town meetings. 
By vote of the town, Aug. 6, 1804, he was appointed to defend 
the town in a certain action before the Supreme Court. He was 
Grand Master of Union Lodge, Dorchester, 1806-7, and orator 
before the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 1805. He was also 
orator at the Anniversary Festival of “ St. John the Baptist,” 
1807. Both of these orations were printed, copies of which are 
found in Milton Public Library. 

In 1803 he published a poem entitled “Milton Hill,” which at 
the time gained quite a celebrity. A part of this poem is in¬ 
serted in the chapter on “Milton Hill.” 

JOHN ROWE, ESQ. 

He was the eldest son of Jacob and Penelope (Phillips) 
Rowe, born in Quebec, Canada, July 26, 1765. On the 19th 
of October, 1772, when seven years of age, he was adopted by 
his uncle, John Rowe, a wealthy merchant of Boston. He was 
graduated at Harvard College in 1783, and entered upon the 
study of law. At the decease of Madam Belcher, John Rowe 
of Boston came into possession of the Belcher estate on Adams 
street, Milton. He leased the place, but did not reside here. 
At his decease, February, 1787, he left to his widow the personal 
estate, and the use of the real estate during her life; it then 
descended to the children of his brother Jacob. Jacob came to 
Milton, with his son Joseph, in 1807, and became a resident of 
the town, where he died in 1814. John Rowe lived in Milton 
before his brother Joseph. He had a law office in the Lewis 















MIL TON 

Vose house, and was in practice here and in Boston. He died 
in MU«t n. May 24, 1812, air the age of forty-seven. - ' 

T IKUT.-GOV. EDWARD IiUTCJlLNSQX ROBBIKS. 

Li- • < -v. .! i ; • aid Hutch,iuson Robbins, f!r> eldest son of 
Rev. X uswmiol Robbiits, wasa lawyer.of much eminence, lie 
was born in Milton. Reb. 19, 1758: graduated at Harvard in 
1775, when eighteen years of ag< • m died Hep. 29, 1829. In 
i785*he married Wlizabeth Murray. Ho lived n>r many years 
in the u Churchill .Jlouse,” .on. Milton., itilb where all but one 
of his seven children were borne-, y.L*- v 

.At the age of twenty-one he w^ydeeted,-; mem he* of the 
Convention that foricned the Constitution oi Massachusetts, 



decision with the .people of Milton woi- authoilty, am 1 ended- 
all strife. 8o great was hie influence, and So gfeat the-con¬ 
i' 

si1ic\ to have cojitrolled tliy town and parish during his # active 
life. -'Wehnd him projector and leader in most of the progres¬ 
sive enterprises of the town, sanitary, educational, and re¬ 
ligious. And the influence and guidance of this distinguished 
citizen,’it is generally believed, wore wise rfnd^afe. 

Mr. Robbins 1 was much interested in'Maine 1 aiiitl'its settle¬ 
ment, then coder the:ju,r. u Jioux»f Massachusetts^. 1 nf78 ; >—I 

*It is from Lie- (iov. Robluns’ t; u u-o<l statement that it*ha& T>een claimed that 

i 


the towns o: 
personal met 
Ot’his u:. 1 

Napoleou IX 


Vi ih .wpieatiou oi mat period 
» further postponement of twenty-two years. 












MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 


513 


Vose house, and was in practice here and in Boston. He died 
in Milton, May 24, 1812, at the age of forty-seven. 

LIEUT.—GOY. EDWARD HUTCHINSON ROBBINS. 

Lieut.-Gov. Edward Hutchinson Robbins, the eldest son of 
Rev. Nathaniel Robbins, was a lawyer of much eminence. He 
was born in Milton, Feb. 19, 1758; graduated at Harvard in 
1775, when eighteen years of age; and died Dec. 29, 1829. In 
1785 he married Elizabeth Murray. He lived for many years 
in the “ Churchill House,” on Milton Hill, where all but one 
of his seven children were born. 

At the age of twenty-one he was elected a member of the 
Convention that formed the Constitution of Massachusetts, 
being the youngest member of that distinguished body. 

He represented the town of Milton at the General Court for 
fourteen years, for nine of which he held the position of speaker, 
elected to that office first in 1793. 

In 1802 he was elected Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts 
with Gov. Strong, and continued in that office till 1807. Then 
he was appointed Judge of Probate for Norfolk County, which 
position he held for eighteen years, until his decease.. To this 
office he seemed especially fitted by the natural kindness of his 
heart, and by his ruling desire to bless and serve the distressed 
and dependent around him. 

Though for the most of his life in public office, Mr. Robbins 
was none the less devoted to the interests of his friends and to 
his native town. He was the adviser of the town. His legal 
papers, now extant, are patterns of precision and accuracy, and 
as such are copied to this day. Judge Robbins’ opinion and 
decision with the people of Milton were authority, and ended 
all strife. So great was his influence, and so great the con¬ 
fidence reposed in him by his fellow-citizens, that he may he 
said to have controlled the town and parish during his active 
life. We find him projector and leader in most of the progres¬ 
sive enterprises of the town, sanitary, educational, and re¬ 
ligious. And the influence and guidance of this distinguished 
citizen, it is generally believed, were wise and safe. 

Mr. Robbins 1 was much interested in Maine and its settle¬ 
ment, then under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. In 4783-4 


1 It is from Lieut.-Gov. Robbins’ alleged statement that it has been claimed that 
Prince Talleyrand, the distinguished French statesman, who, in exile, sought refuge in 
the towns of Maine until the overthrow of Robespierre, was born at Mount Desert. The 
personal memoirs of Talleyrand will not be published, however, until 1890. By the terms 
of his will they were not to be published until 1868. At the expiration of ihat period 
Napoleon III. obtained from the heirs a further postponement of twenty-two years. 



514 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


lie sent Col. Jonathan Eddy, of Sharon, Mass., afterward of 
Eddington, Me., to explore lands on the Saint Croix river. 
From this exploration and others he and another gentleman 
bought of the State, Oct. 21, 1786, Township No. 4, south of 
Calais, on the bay or river Saint Croix. Several men and 
families from Milton removed to this new town. He was much 
interested in his township and its settlement. He made several 
visits there between 1790 and 1802. The township was incor¬ 
porated into a town March 18, 1811, and named Robbinston, 
for its founder. , 

Mr. Robbins removed in the spring of 1805 from Milton Hill 
to the estate of his wife, on Brush Hill. The large farm of one 
hundred and fifty acres had been rented for many years, and 
was greatly run down. Under his management it soon recov¬ 
ered its natural fertility and attractiveness; and in this quiet 
and homelike retreat he passed the last quarter of a century of 
his life, always faithful in meeting numerous and responsible 
public duties, and diligent in conferring happiness unto the 
many enjoying his constant hospitality. 

The mansion on Brush Hill, built by James Smith in 1734, 
has been for one hundred and fifty years the resort of patriots, 
and men and women of learning from all parts of the country. 

Children of Edward II. Robbins. 

Eliza, born Aug. 26, 1786 ; died July 16, 1853. 

Sarah Lydia, born Dec. 16,1787 ; married Samuel Howe, Oct. 
11, 1813; died June 17, 1862. 

Anne Jean, born July 3, 1789; married Joseph Lyman, Oct. 
30, 1811; died May 25, 1867. 

Edward 1L, born March 24,1792; married Ann Coffin, 1818; 
died Jan. 10, 1850. 

Mary, born Oct. 16, 1794; married Joseph W. Revere, April 
16, 1821; died Feb. 1, 1879. 

James Murray, born June 30, 1796; married Frances Mary 
Harris, Oct. 7, 1835; died Nov. 2, 1885. 

Catherine, born March 25, 1800 ; died Dec., 18, 1884. 

JOSEPH ROWE, ESQ. 

Joseph Rowe was the brother of John, and son of Jacob 
Rowe. He was born in Quebec, Canada, Nov. 27, 1770, and 
came to Milton with his father, Jacob, and his sisters, Mary 
and Penelope, where he resided for more than half a century, 
till his death, proving himself a highly useful and valued citi¬ 
zen. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar. For years 


MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 


515 


he had an office in Boston, but never entered upon extensive 
practice. He was often placed on important committees, where 
his legal knowledge was of value to the town. The poor who 
needed legal advice found in him a ready friend and a safe 
adviser. Possessed of an ample estate, he was able and willing 
to contribute both his time and knowledge, and, if needful, to 
draw on his resources, for the benefit of his friends and fellow- 
citizens less fortunate than himself. He died here, March 26, 
1856, leaving by will a legacy of $1,000 for the poor of Milton. 

ASHUK WAKE, ESQ. 

Ashur Ware graduated at Harvard College in 1804. He 
studied law, and in the early part of his professional life took 
up his residence in Milton, and opened an office in the Lewis 
Yose building. He was here in 1814, but remained only a 
short time. After his removal from Milton he was elected 
Professor of the Greek language at Bowdoin College, and 
received the degree of LL.D. from that institution. Subse¬ 
quently he became Judge of the United States Court, and died 
in Portland, Me., in the year 1873, at an advanced age. 

ASAPH CHTJKCHILL, ESQ. 

Of Asaph Churchill, the first of the name, the founder of the 
Milton family, it may be said emphatically that few men at the 
close of their lives have left farther behind them the place 
where they started; few men in seventy-six years ever passed 
over greater space, using the word in its various senses. In 
fact, most of us, who go through life upon a somewhat even 
plane, can hardly conceive how he did it. We can only won¬ 
der at and admire the tenacity of purpose, courage, energy, and 
unceasing effort which enabled him to conquer all obstacles, and 
accomplish his results. We see many men who astonish us 
by their successful pursuit of knowledge under difficulties; 
many more who succeed in the chase after material things; but 
the struggle of Mr. Churchill in the pursuit, and his success 
in the attainment, were fairly proportioned. Neither the intel¬ 
lectual nor the material was sacrificed, one for the other, — 
both were diligently pursued; and something more seems 
earned by his life than the gravestone biography: “ Born in 
1765, died in 1841.” 

He was the son of Zebedee Churchill (a descendant of John 
Churchill and Hannah Pontus, Plymouth) and Sarah Cushman 
Churchill. His birthplace was in the backwoods of Middle- 
borough, then a country town larger than all Norfolk County, 


516 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


and, in the absence of railroads, as far from Boston, both geo¬ 
graphically and in enlightened social and material progress, as is 
now, perhaps, any town in the State. His father, whom he 
never knew, died while Mr. Churchill was an infant. He had 
no brother or sister surviving. His mother soon married again ; 
and with her thus transferred, without any known near re¬ 
lation ; without an educated or influential friend, or any patron 
from the high social seats of the synagogue; with no inherited 
means; with no one, so far as known, to aid or guide him,— 
he was left to paddle along as best he could. The first heard 
of him is that he worked in an iron foundry at six and a 
quarter cents per day, and lived on corn-bread and milk and 
fish, the latter then so abundant in Middleborough that it was, 
as he told us, the custom among the people to feed their hogs 
on the finest brook trout. 

How, under such circumstan'ces, he came to entertain the 
idea of getting a liberal education is only less wonderful than 
how he managed to get it; and on this question we obtain 
but little light from any conversation with or account from 
himself in later years. He was too busy a man to spend time in 
talking of himself or his earlier life, or of anything past. He 
rather illustrated the sound philosophy * of Longfellow, and 
“ acted in the living present, letting the dead past bury its 
dead.” But, somehow or other, he did conceive the idea of 
getting an education. He was not content with the iron foundry 
at six and a quarter cents per day, and broke away from it. 
He heard that somewhere, some fifty or seventy-five miles off, 
on the other side of Boston, there was such a thing as a college ; 
that in order to get there he must learn something of Latin and 
Greek; that there was such a thing as a “ Latin Accidence” 
and a Greek alphabet. In some way or other he got the books. 
He studied, and so far mastered them and all the preparatory 
studies that one day, in the summer of 1785, taking his only 
pair of shoes in his hands, and walking barefoot from Middle- 
borough to Cambridge to save their wear, he presented himself 
for examination at Harvard and was admitted. He went 
through the course, and graduated well up in his class, with John 
Thornton Kirkland and Nahum Mitchell as classmates, with the 
latter of whom, afterwards member of Congress from Massa¬ 
chusetts, he performed the part assigned to them at Commence¬ 
ment, entitled “A Syllogistic Disputation upon the Thesis: 
Grravitas non est essentialis materice proprietary Having 
graduated, the question arose, which so often troubles our 
alumni at the present day, What to do next ? Having begun 
with study he must go on with it, qualis ab incepto tails pro- 


MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 


517 


cesserit. He must attain the position of a lawyer: then, at 
least, one of distinction, and attained by comparatively few. 
His ambition could be contented with nothing less, and he 
achieved it. He somehow acquired the necessary knowledge 
of the books, and somehow picked up the necessary means of 
living while getting it, by teaching a little, by working a little 
at carpentering, by, we are told, even preaching a little. The 
latter business must have been rather abnormal, for his theology 
was always rather broad and liberal for the pulpit of 1790. He 
was favored with some tuition by the Hon. John Davis, and 
was duly admitted to the bar at Plymouth, on the 13th of 
August, A.D. 1793, at the age of twenty-eight. The old 
Boston Directory of 1805 shows him to have had his office 
at that date on Court street, Boston. About that time he came 
to Milton, and there commenced and continued the practice of 
law in Norfolk and Suffolk Counties to the time of his death. 
His first law office there was at the junction of what are now 
called Randolph and Canton avenues and Adams street, in a 
building formerly the property of the late Gen. Moses Whitney, 
his lifelong friend, an inducement to the occupancy of which, 
in his straitened circumstances, was the direct and abundant 
sunlight pouring through its windows, making a large saving 
in his fuel bill. He followed his professional labors and study 
with patient and persevering diligence and economy, and, as 
almost a necessary consequence, with a reasonable measure of 
material success and reputation. 

At the age of forty-five he had purchased the large and 
beautiful place on Milton Hill known as the Governor Robbins 
estate, hardly surpassed in beauty or value by any in the coun¬ 
try, and had married, May 5, 1810, Mary Gardner of Charles¬ 
town, whose personal beauty, upon her arrival in Milton, was 
said, by the good people of that generation, to have created a 
special sensation. He was recognized by his contemporaries as 
one of the ablest lawyers of the county, among whom were 
such men as the late Theron Metcalf of the Supreme Court 
bench, Horace Mann, James Richardson, and Judge Abel 
Cushing. In addition to the more public manifestations of his 
learning and ability in the constant trial of cases before juries 
of the county his name comes down to posterity in his cases 
cited to-day as determinative of law, in the volumes of our 
reports from almost the 1st of Massachusetts to the 20th of 
Pickering; among them, one against the Merchants’ Bank, to 
enforce payment of its bills in specie at the time the banks 
had suspended, attracted attention. Another one of special 
interest was the case of Commonwealth v. Glover, to be 


518 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


found in No. 8 of the olden time series published bj Ticknor 
& Co., in 1886, entitled “ The New England Sunday.” In that 
case the defendant, who lived in Quincy, was prosecuted in 
1820 for selling fresh milk Sunday mornings in Boston, and 
was defended zealously, and, as the reporter said, “ with great 
ability, by Mr. Churchill.” The lower court of that daj^ de¬ 
cided that even this was not a work of necessity or charity, and 
that it would be better for the spiritual, if not for the physical, 
welfare of the people of Boston to drink sour milk than to buy 
it on Sunday, and so found defendant guilty; but on appeal the 
decision was reversed in the higher court, and the defendant 
discharged. We believe that fresh milk, ever since, has been 
practically held vendible in Boston Sunday mornings, as an 
offence neither against God nor man. 

Neither, however, did Mr. Churchill confine himself exclu¬ 
sively to the law. His active mind asserted itself in various 
directions, in matters of public and private interest; sometimes 
of a more personal nature, sometimes literary or moral, some¬ 
times of a business character. He was an accomplished French 
scholar, had a goodly collection of French books in his library, 
and spent largely of his leisure time in reading them, particu¬ 
larly Voltaire, by whom there is reason to think his theology 
was strongly colored. For one or more years he had a French¬ 
man of Bonaparte’s time, one Verly, afterwards connected 
with Harvard College, an inmate of his house, whose conversa¬ 
tion, always in that tongue, kept Mr. Churchill’s French bright 
and fresh. 

He was a prominent member of that good old institution the 
Dorchester and Milton Lyceum, constantly attending and con¬ 
tributing his share to its lectures and debates. He there orig¬ 
inated and pushed forward his scheme for the establishment of 
some one universal language to be adopted and used in all the 
civilized countries, selecting the French, and he got a vote of 
the Lyceum in favor of the project, and in favor of sending a 
memorial, written by himself, to the Executive Department at 
Washington, requesting that negotiations be opened with the 
representatives of foreign powers for some concerted action in aid 
of the scheme. The memorial was forwarded, and, if its recom¬ 
mendations had been adopted and put in execution, the present 
generation would have found foreign travel more comfortable 
and convenient. 

He, at one time, established a bank of his own, issued his 
own bills, and obtained a good circulation for them. But this 
enterprise was arrested by the Act of the next winter’s 
Legislature interdicting the issuing by any citizen of bills to 


MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 


519 


be used as currency, and limiting this power to incorporated 
banks. 

He had almost a passion for the acquisition of land, stimu¬ 
lated at the time the banks suspended specie payments by the 
fear that they would never resume, and became the owner of 
large tracts, — so large, indeed, that it became the subject of 
remark; and one may hear quoted to this day the humorous 
sayings of old John Drew (the colored man who lived on 
Churchill’s lane, in the box of a house, on fifty feet square of 
land given him by Dr. Holbrook), that “ he and Squire 
Churchill owned more land than any two men in Milton.” He 
did not think it profitable to raise cultivated crops in Milton by 
hired labor, and so stocked his lands with herds of cattle, 
regarding that as the best mode of farming. His oft-repeated 
agricultural maxim was, “ Keep the fences up ; keep all in that 
is in ; all out that is out,” if you do not wish to lose by your 
operations on land. One of his neighbors, disposed to find 
fault with this system of agriculture, querulously asked why 
he did not “ farm it as General Capen [the great farmer of 
the day] did.” He replied that he did. The neighbor re¬ 
monstrated against this assumption, when Mr. Churchill asked 
if the general did not “ farm it as he had a mind to.” This 
being admitted, Mr. Churchill sententiously replied, “ And so 
do I.” 

He was a member and regular attendant of the Third Church 
in Dorchester, under Dr. Richmond (Unitarian), formed by the 
famous secession from Dr. Codman’s society. 

He contributed largely to the stock, and was active in pro¬ 
curing the charter, and organizing the old Dorchester and 
Milton Bank (now the Blue Hill), which has been three times 
successfully robbed, yet flourishes to-day among the best. 

Although living and dying before the time when the temper¬ 
ance movement had exhibited much of its present strength, he 
had seen wasting away around him so many of the families of 
his town, and the unnumbered evils of drunkenness, that in 
advance of his age he had learned to shun all intoxicating 
liquors, and to keep them from use by his family. Without 
pledge he consistently abstained. 

At the call for volunteers in the war of 1812 he shouldered 
his musket and did the brief military service the occasion 
required in New England, mainly in meeting false alarms. He 
was always interested in the State militia, and turned out 
with the Milton Company, in which he held a subordinate 
office. 

In politics he was always independent, but never indifferent. 


520 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


He took sides on all the important questions of the day, what¬ 
ever they were. On national matters his affiliations were with 
the democratic rather than the federal school. 

He was a zealous anti-Mason, sympathizing strongly with his 
townsman, Mr. Joseph Morton, who, when Mr. Jacob Allen, a 
seceder and anti-Masonic lecturer, desperately complained that 
he was afraid of being murdered by the Masons, exhorted him 
by all means to take the chances of it, as his assassination would 
be the very best thing in the world for the cause, — the blood of 
the martyrs was the seed of the Church. It has been doubted 
whether Mr. Allen saw it in just that patriotic light, but the 
advice was sincere. 

In 1810 and 1812 Mr. Churchill represented Milton in the 
General Court. He was several times put in nomination for 
office, but was not generally a successful nominee. He had too 
much individuality; he did his own thinking; he was not con¬ 
ventional; he practised no arts, adopted no course of action for 
conciliation, proclaimed no buncombe sentiments to capture 
voters; he had nothing but integrity and ability to commend 
him; he was not popular; his prominent virtues were exact 
justice, rigid honesty, and precise truthfulness. He trespassed 
against no man; he paid his own debts; he did not ask that his 
own debts or trespasses should be forgiven, nor did he readily 
forgive those who owed or trespassed against him; he expected 
and exacted from others, and felt that he had a right to expect, 
the same effort and sacrifices in the line of their duty that he 
had made, and thought that if they met this requirement there 
would be neither failing debtors nor trespassers to be forgiven. 
He did not favor bankrupt or insolvent laws. He was of the old 
school of strict, perhaps severe, but strong men. And this was 
equally true in the government of his own family and in his 
dealings with the rest of the world. He gave his sons the best 
collegiate and professional education to be obtained. For their 
welfare and that of his two daughters he was unceasingly 
solicitous. At all times of their sickness, and at all the impor¬ 
tant crises of their lives, his paternal love (all the deeper and 
stronger in that its manifestations were suppressed) was 
evident. It is not perhaps too much to say, that no one thing 
contributed more to make him willing to labor and deny him¬ 
self than his wish to save them from the hardships he had himself 
undergone, and his hope to leave them the competence which 
he did; but, notwithstanding this, his reticence, his reserve, 
the sternness of his manner rather than of his nature, prevented 
him from receiving in his lifetime the grateful appreciation 
which was his due. 


MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 


521 


He was married but once. His wife, who survived him, died 
in January, 1859, beloved by all, and most by those who knew 
her best. Her tenderness of heart, which never thought of self, 
and the simple purity and beauty of her character fully entitled 
her to all that love and veneration of her children and the re¬ 
spect of the community which she always commanded. 

Of seven children five survived him. The oldest son, Asaph, 
left Milton in 1838 and has since lived in Dorchester. Joseph 
McKean, the second son, died in Milton in 1886, honored 
and regretted. The youngest son, Charles Marshall Spring, 
still lives upon a part of the old homestead. Both children 
and grandchildren represent and perpetuate the name or the 
profession of Asaph Churchill. 

JOSEPH MCKEAN CHURCHILL, ESQ. 

Joseph McKean Churchill was the son of Asaph Churchill, 
Sen.; born in Milton, April 29, 1821; died in Milton, March 
23, 1886. He graduated at Harvard College in 1840, and was 
one of the overseers 1856-68; was delegate to the Constitu¬ 
tional Convention 1853; representative in State Legislature 
1858-59; and member of Governor Banks’ Council 1860-61. 
He enlisted as a nine months’ man in the 45th Mass. Volun¬ 
teers, in which regiment he was Captain of Company B. This 
regiment arrived at Newbern Nov. 5, 1862, and was mustered 
out of service July 8, 1863. 

He was one of the County Commissioners from January, 
1868, to April, 1871, and during two of those years was chair¬ 
man of the board. During a period of twenty-five years he 
served as moderator in the conduct of thirty-two meetings in 
town affairs. In 1867 he was appointed a Special Justice, and 
subsequently one of the Associate Justices of the Municipal 
Court in Boston, 'which office he held at the time of his 
decease. 

He died suddenly of heart disease on the morning of the 
day he was expected to preside at an adjourned town-meeting. 
Resolutions of respect to his memory are placed on record in 
the proceedings of the town, of the court in which he was one 
of the Associate Justices, and of other associations with which 
he was connected, to which reference may be had for more 
extended minutes. His tastes inclined to participation in 
political affairs, and few men devoted more attention to the 
furtherance of the objects of primary and local organizations 
and conventions in the practical details of the work of the 
politician. He seldom engaged in any public effort as an 


522 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


advocate in his profession or in the debates of the assembly, 
and we are not apprised of any remains of his literary labors. 

He discharged the duties of official station with fidelity and 
to public acceptation. He left no immediate family except his 
widow, his only son, McKean G. Churchill, a promising youth, 
having died in his sixteenth year, Feb. 12, 1883. Beneath 
this crushing blow his spirit bowed in deepest sorrow. 

In reference to this sad bereavement we here give his own 
words : — 

McKean Gardner Churchill, only son of Joseph McKean Churchill, who 
died Feb. 12, 1883; was endowed by nature with a bright and retentive 
mind. He stood at the head of his class at the Roxbury Latin School, where 
he was preparing for Harvard University; unselfish, pure and holy in all 
his tastes and aspirations, he died in early youth, beloved and mourned by 
all who knew him. 


LAWYERS OF MILTON, 1887. 

JOHN M. BROWNE, ESQ. 

John M. Browne was born in Parsonsfield, Me., April 15, 
1839. He received a preparatory college education at “Par¬ 
sonsfield Seminary,” and was a successful teacher in the public 
schools in several towns of Maine and New Hampshire. He stud¬ 
ied law in the office of Messrs. Ayer and Wedgwood, at Cornish, 
Me., and afterwards attended, for two years, the Law School of 
Cambridge University; was admitted to the bar of York County ; 
practised law one year in his native town, and moved to Massa¬ 
chusetts in 1872, when he opened an office in Boston, where he 
still continues to practise his profession. Mr. Browne was a 
Trial Justice for Norfolk County for a term of four years. In 
1879 he removed to Milton, where he now resides. 

JOHN P. S. OHHRCHILL, ESQ., 

son of Charles M. S. Churchill, was born in Milton, Feb. 16, 
1858, graduated at the Boston University School of Law, in 
the Class of 1882, was admitted to the Suffolk Bar Feb. 23, 
1883, and is now actively engaged in the duties of his pro¬ 
fession. He resides in Milton, and is one of the auditors of 
the town. 

EDWARD C. PERKINS, ESQ. 

Born at Cincinnati, O., Feb. 25, 1844; prepared for college 
at Phillips Academy, Exeter, N.H.; graduated at Harvard 
College in 1866. Spent three years in Texas, in business, and 
then studied law at the Harvard Law School, and with George 



MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 


523 


S. Hale, Esq, in Boston. Married and settled in Milton, Mass., 
in 1869. Practised law in Boston and Milton since 1872, ex¬ 
cept between 1879 and 1883, during which time he was in 
Colorado. 


EDWARD LILLIE PIERCE, ESQ. 

Edward L. Pierce was born March 29, 1829; graduated at 
Brown University in 1850, and from the Law School at Cam¬ 
bridge in 1852. After leaving the Law School he was, for a 
time, in the office of Salmon P. Chase at Cincinnati, and became 
his confidential secretary at Washington. In the year 1857 Mr. 
Pierce published his work on “ American Railroad Law,” and 
later a new edition of the same work. He is the author of an 
elaborate “Index of the Special Railroad Laws of Massachu¬ 
setts.” His memoir of Charles Sumner, who appointed him as 
one of his literary executors, was published simultaneously in 
Boston and London, November, 1877. In 1860 and 1876 he 
represented his district at the national Republican conventions in 
Chicago and Cincinnati. He was among the very first to enlist 
in the late war. The proclamation was issued on the 15th of 
April, 1861 ; on the 18th the Third Regiment of the Massachu¬ 
setts Militia, in Co. L, of which he was a volunteer, was off for 
Old Point Comfort, and on the night of the 20th destroyed the 
Norfolk Navy Yard. As there was no mustering officer in 
Boston the regiment was sworn in at Fortress Monroe on the 
23d, which fails to show their quick response. In 1862 Mr. 
Pierce was placed by Secretary Chase in charge of the freedmen 
and plantations of the Sea Islands of South Carolina. In 1863 
he was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the Third 
Massachusetts District. Governor Bullock appointed him 
District Attorney in 1865, to fill a vacancy in this district oc¬ 
casioned by the resignation of the incumbent. He was elected 
to the same office by the people in 1866, and reelected in 1867. 
In October, 1869, he was appointed “ Secretary of the Board of 
State Charities,” and held the office till his resignation of the 
same in 1874. 

The passing glance at the life-work of the living, which is 
only possible in these annals, will fail to show with any fairness 
or precision the career of our honored citizen; but one act 
of his useful life may properly receive here a definite recog¬ 
nition. 

Mr. Pierce was a representative to the Massachusetts Legis¬ 
lature from the Eleventh Norfolk Representative District dur¬ 
ing the sessions of 1875 and 1876. He was a member of the 
Judiciary Committee both years, in 1876 being chairman. 


524 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Next to that of Speaker this is the most responsible position in 
the House. In the session of 1875 Mr. Pierce was the first to 
call the attention of the Legislature to the heavy and still in¬ 
creasing indebtedness of the cities and towns in the State, often 
incurred in unnecessary or extravagant expenditures. 

He subsequently drew the Act upon that subject, which was 
passed at the same session. This, it is believed, was the first 
statute limiting and regulating municipal indebtedness passed 
by any State in the Union. Substantially all the provisions 
of this statute were incorporated into the Public Statutes, and 
are law to-day. 

At the time Mr. Pierce proposed the above legislation there 
was a great and increasing extravagance in cities and towns in 
the conduct of their affairs, which began soon after the close of 
the civil war. Costly improvements were being undertaken, 
debts were being incurred, and taxes levied in many places 
to an alarming extent. 

The beneficial effects of this statute were soon noticeable, 
and the extravagant notions and designs of municipal bodies 
and officials have been kept under wholesome restraint. Since 
the above statute was passed, many other States, seeing the 
advantages to be derived from it, have made similar laws. It 
is impossible to estimate the value of this legislation to the 
Commonwealth and to the country. 

GEORGE R. R. RIVERS, ESQ. 

George R. R. Rivers was born in Providence, R.I., May 28, 
1853. He moved to Milton in 1854. From 1866 to 1870 he 
was in Europe. He entered Harvard College in 1871, and was 
graduated in 1875. He was in the Law School in 1876 and 
1879, but did not care to take the degree. He studied law in 
the office of Thomas M. Stetson, Esq., of New Bedford, and was 
admitted to the bar in Bristol County, April, 1880. Since that 
time he has been practising in Boston. 

NATHANIEL FOSTER SAFFORD, ESQ. 

Nathaniel Foster Safford, son of Nathaniel F. and Hannah 
. (Woodbury) Safford, was born in Salem, Mass., Sept. 19, 
1815; fitted for college at the Latin Grammar School in that 
city; entered Dartmouth College, and graduated in 1835. Lie 
studied law with Hon. Asahel Huntington, of Salem; com¬ 
menced practice in Dorchester and Milton Village in January, 
1839, where he has since resided. During thirty years past his 
office has been in Boston, where he has continued the pursuit 



MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 


525 


of his profession, now extending in all over a period of nearly 
fifty years. In the early years of professional life he acted as a 
magistrate and as Master in Chancery, exercising also jurisdic¬ 
tion under the operation of insolvent laws. He was a repre¬ 
sentative to the General Court from the town of Dorchester in 
1850 and 1851. In 1853 he succeeded Hon. Samuel P. Loud 
as one of the Board of County Commissioners for the County of 
Norfolk, at the time when Roxbury, West Roxbury, and Dor¬ 
chester formed part of that county, Mr. Loud having been 
chairman of the board for twenty-five years. This office Mr. 
Safford continued to hold by successive elections, serving as 
chairman fifteen years, while resident in Dorchester, and while 
resident in Milton an additional term of six years, also, as 
chairman of that board. 

The interest taken by Mr. Safford in the early part of his 
profession, in that class of local improvements which required 
public cooperation for successful accomplishment, continued to 
be manifested in his subsequent career; and the voluminous 
records of the commissioners during his terms of official service, 
of decrees and surveys relating to the entire extinguishment 
of corporate franchises in turnpikes and toll-bridges, and the 
establishment of free bridges and roads, the location and reloca¬ 
tion of highways, the remodelling of court-house and prisons, and 
fire-proof apartments for records, with the jurisdiction exercised 
in location of railroad-crossings, assessments of damages, and the 
like, indicate a progressive movement for a long series of years 
in active demands for local and public improvements in every 
section of the county of Norfolk, conducive more especially to 
the rapid increase of population and enlarged facilities for 
travel in that portion of the territory of the county annexed to 
the city or in proximity thereto. 

HOEACE E. WARE, ESQ. 

Horace E. Ware was born in Milton, August 27, 1845; 
graduated at Harvard College in 1867 ; admitted to the bar of 
Suffolk County in 1869. Mr. Ware was the representative to 
the Massachusetts Legislature from the Fourth Norfolk District 
during the sessions of 1879 and 1880, serving both years on the 
Judiciary Committee. 


PHYSICIANS OF MILTON. 

I find no reference to physicians in the earliest history of 
the town. During the whole ministry of Rev. Peter Thacher, 
and for twenty years after, there seems to have been no resi- 



526 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


dent physician here. June 10, 1683, Mr. Thacher was pros¬ 
trated by what he terms a “ great sickness.” He says in his 
journal: — 

Dr. Avery stayed with me all night. June 15. This day my brothers 
Ealph & Thomas tried to get Dr. Winthrop, but he was not at home, Dr. 
Avery & Dr. Allen came to see me. 

Dr. Avery was the resident physician of Dedham, and Dr. 
Allen, of Boston. Had there been a doctor in Milton he would 
have been with his pastor. Cotton Mather says: -— 

It is well known that, until two hundred years ago, physic in England 
was no profession distinct from divinity. Ever since the days of Luke, the 
Evangelist, skill in physic has been frequently professed and practised by 
persons whose most declared business was the study of divinity. Such a 
universally serviceable pastor was our Thacher. 

He was the only physician of Milton during his ministry, and 
it is said expended no small part of his salary in providing 
medicines for the sick and needy of his people. 

DE. SAMUEL GAEDNEE. 

Dr. Gardner was the son of Rev. John Gardner, of Stow, 
Mass. He graduated at Harvard College in 1746, settled in 
Milton as early as 1753, and was the first resident physician 
after Mr. Thacher. On the 22d of May, 1766, he married 
Mary, daughter of Rev. Dr. Cooper, and granddaughter of 
Provincial Secretary William Foye. He had an extensive 
practice as physician, and was a leading and influential citizen 
here for more than a quarter of a century. He died Jan. 18, 
1778. 

DE. ELIOT EAWSOX. 

He was the third son of Pelatiah and Hannah Rawson, born 
in Milton, June 23, 1724. After completing his education he 
settled in the east part of Milton, where he was in practice’ as a 
physician from 1768 to 1775. 

DE. EEOS SUMXEE. 

He was the third child of Seth and Lydia (Badcock) Sum¬ 
ner; born in Milton, Sept. 25, 1746; studied medicine with Dr. 
Ames, of Dedham; and was a practising physician here from 
1770 until his decease, June 3, 1796. He was never married, 
but built a house on Highland street, where the house of N. H. 










MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 


527 


detrended to his sister Abigail, who married Jazaniah Ford, 
a,id v .‘A occupied by Mr. Ford until his death, April 14, 1832. 
It, ' as last rt iipied by Mr. Join. MeQuirk, and was consumed 
by fire several years ago. Dr. Sumner served the town, in other 
’■ cupm-.hir: ; > that of physician, proving himself a useful 

DR. AMOS HOLBROOK. 

i o -> iu Bellingham, Jan. 23, 17 ' 1. and studied medi«- 
eiia : kinsman, Dr. Metcalf, of Franklin, and subse- 

. I ‘rovidence. 

«*:»• l the army at Cambridge, August. 1775. , surgeon’s 

3 

i:.missioned surgeon of the same regia . and a> .-om- 
pl* ‘ it to New Jersey He was soon trail ferred . . tla 
: merit of Col. Joseph Vose. In March, .1777, Colonel Vmr, 

prostrated by sickness, returned to his Milton home, on . - 
lane, accompanied by his surgeon. 

The commander, after a short furlough, rejoi 
ment; but the surgeon suffer: fro i die • \■ - tiio 

campaign, determined to resign his place in the arm) and 
establish himself as physician in ihe town of Milton. His first 
work in Milton was to petition the town for liberty to open an 
inoculating hospital for small-pox, March 17, 1777, which was 
granted. After regaining his health by a sea-voyage to France, 
v, here he spent several monlhs in witnessing the practice of 
the hospitals, he took up the line of practice made vacant by 
the death of Dr. Gardner, and commenced in Milton his long 
and useful career of m e than half a century. His residence 
at fiyst was at the village. In 1800 he built the house on 
Milton Hill now owned by Mrs. Cunningham, where he resided 
until his death. 

Prepossessing in< appearance, pleasing iu his manners, and ardent and 
ind< taCgable in attention to business and in the pursuit of knowledge, he 
soon found himself well established in a practice which gradually ana.con¬ 
stant!) increased from year to year. He was* indeed, eminently acceptable 
as i physician. His very presence in a sick-room, and the soothing kind¬ 
ness of Jus address, seemed to give hope to his patient s, and inspired eon- 

■ ■ . U their friends ; while hi- assiduous attention to the sick of all ages, 

. : tiirt sympathy with the afflicted, alleviated suffering and afforded 
ti •*< \ hen the resources of art (ailed to arrest the progress and fatal 
t< uunci >* of disease. 

1 h. We. 11 lie eminent in liis profession, and for many years 
i u. su: sl.e principal medical business of Dorchester and 
< y. os. veil as of Milton. 












MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 


527 


Spafford now stands ; in this house he lived and died. It then 
descended to his sister Abigail, who married Jazaniah Ford, 
and was occupied by Mr. Ford until his death, April 14, 1832. 
It was last occupied by Mr. John McQuirk, and was consumed 
by fire several years ago. Dr. Sumner served the town in other 
capacities besides that of physician, proving himself a useful 
citizen. 

DR. AMOS HOLBROOK. 

He was horn in Bellingham, Jan. 23, 1754, and studied medi¬ 
cine with his kinsman, Dr. Metcalf, of Franklin, and subse¬ 
quently in Providence. 

He joined the army at Cambridge, August, 1775, as surgeon’s 
mate in Col. John Greaton’s regiment. In March following he 
was commissioned surgeon of the same regiment, and accom¬ 
panied it to New Jersey. He was soon transferred to the 
regiment of Col. Joseph Yose. In March, 1777, Colonel Yose, 
prostrated by sickness, returned to his Milton home, on Vose’s 
lane, accompanied by his surgeon. 

The commander, after a short furlough, rejoined his regi¬ 
ment; but the surgeon, suffering from the exposures of the 
campaign, determined to resign his place in the army and 
establish himself as physician in the town of Milton. His first 
work in Milton was to petition the town for liberty to open an 
inoculating hospital for small-pox, March 17, 1777, which was 
granted. After regaining his health by a sea-voyage to France, 
where he spent several months in witnessing the practice of 
the hospitals, he took up the line of practice made vacant by 
the death of Dr. Gardner, and commenced in Milton his long 
and useful career of more than half a century. His residence 
at first was at the village. In 1800 he built the house on 
Milton Hill now owned by Mrs. Cunningham, where he resided 
until his death. 

Prepossessing in appearance, pleasing in his manners, and ardent and 
indefatigable in attention to business and in the pursuit of knowledge, he 
soon found himself well established in a practice which gradually and con¬ 
stantly increased from year to year. He was, indeed, eminently acceptable 
as a physician. His very presence in a sick-room, and the soothing kind¬ 
ness of his address, seemed to give hope to his patients, and inspired con¬ 
fidence in their friends ; while his assiduous attention to the sick of all ages, 
and his sympathy with the afflicted, alleviated suffering and afforded 
consolation when the resources of art failed to arrest the progress and fatal 
termination of disease. 

He became eminent in his profession, and for many years 
engrossed the principal medical business of Dorchester and 
Quincy, as well as of Milton. 


528 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Dr. Holbrook was one of the leading men here during 
the whole of his Milton residence ; his name is found connected 
with almost every enterprise looking to the prosperity of the 
town and to the welfare of his fellow-citizens. By marriage 
relations with one of the principal families of Milton and of 
Dorchester, and by that intimate and tender communion with 
all the families to which only the beloved physician gains ac¬ 
cess, he became specially prominent in the history of his times, 
and claims a fitting remembrance here. 

In that day, before professional schools were as common as 
now, he very often had medical students under his charge. 
His house was the rendezvous of his profession, and the resort 
of the literary and celebrated men of the times. When Lafay¬ 
ette made his last visit to the neighborhood he was entertained 
as the guest of the doctor; the event is distinctly remembered 
by the grandchildren of Dr. Holbrook, now living. 

Dr Holbrook married: — 

1st, Melatiah Howard, of Medway, in 1773, who died Feb. 
1, 1782. 

2d, Patience Yose, daughter of Daniel Yose, of Milton, Oct. 
7, 1783, who died March 17, 1789. 

3d, Jerusha Robinson, of Dorchester, born March 11, 1764; 
died Nov. 21, 1838. 

He died in Milton, June 17, 1842. His children were : — 

I. Capt. Samuel Holbrook, born Aug. 15, 1773. He sailed 
from Providence in the employ of the DeWolfs for N.W. coast 
July 31, 1800; was lost on the return voyage, about Feb. 22, 
1802. 

II. Polly, born May 6, 1775. 

III. Betsey Allen, born Dec. 26, 1778; married Amasa Fuller 
of Dorchester, Feb. 12, 1814. 

IY. Charles Harvey, born Aug. 9, 1781; died May, 1782. 

Y. Clarissa, born Aug. 23, 1784, by second wife ; married 
May 20, 1810, Dr. Henry Gardner, of Dorchester. She was the 
mother of Gov. Henry J. Gardner. 

VI. William, born Sept. 22, 1790; died Aug. 27, 1794. 

VII. Sarah Perkins, born July 14, 1794; married William 
Ellery Vincent, of Dorchester. 

VIII. William, born May 27, 1795; died Feb. 12, 1812. 

IX. Catherine, born July 6, 1799; died Jan. 29, 1801. 

X. George, born Jan 6, 1802; died Jan. 29, 1806. 

XI. Catherine, born May 31, 1804; married Thaddeus W. 
Harris, A.M., M.D., of Dorchester. He was a practising physi¬ 
cian in Milton, Librarian of Harvard College, and a distin¬ 
guished Entomologist. 




MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 


529 


DR. JOHN SPRAGUE. 

He was one of onr earliest physicians. He was the son of 
Dr. John Sprague, a distinguished physician of Dedham. He 
graduated at Harvard College in 1772, and studied medicine 
partly under the direction of his father, but chiefly in Europe. 
He located in the west part of Milton, and built the house now 
owned by the heirs of F. A. Eustis. When first built it stood 
near Canton avenue, but has since been removed to the position 
now occupied on the hill. From Milton Dr. Sprague removed 
to Boston, and then to Dedham, where he died, April 17, 1800. 

DR. BENJAMIN TURNER. 

He was born in Randolph; graduated at Harvard in 1791. 
He settled in Milton, and took up the practice made vacant by 
the removal of Dr. Sprague. He married a daughter of 
Nathaniel Davenport, and built the house on Canton avenue, 
now owned by Mrs. Eldridge, nearly opposite the “ Atherton 
Tavern.” He then removed to Framingham, where he was 
engaged mostly in agricultural pursuits till his death, which 
occurred in 1881. 


DR. JESSE TUCKER. 

He was the son of Jeremiah and Mary (Wadsworth) Tucker. 
He was born in Milton, July 17, 1759; graduated at Harvard 
College in 1778; and studied medicine with his kinsman, Dr. 
John Warren. He went out as surgeon in Captain Manly’s 
privateer. When a few days out the vessel was captured, 
and he was carried a prisoner into Newfoundland, where the 
yellow-fever was raging; he took the fever, and died in 1799. 
I find the following reference to Jesse Tucker in the will of his 
father, Jeremiah, who died while Jesse was in college: — 

Item. I give to my son Jesse Tucker the sum of Eighty Pounds; 
twenty pounds of which is to be paid him at the time he takes his first 
Degree at Colledge, the remaining Sixty Pounds to be paid him in twelve 
months after ; he to be maintained and continued at Colledge untill he 
takes his first Degree. All Colledge dues together with his Cloathing and 
all other necessary Charges untill he has his first Degree to be equally 
Born & Paid together with the aforesaid Eighty Pounds by my three sons 
David, Jeremiah, and Isaac. My said son Jesse to be put to such Colledge, 
and at such time as the Rev. M r . Nathaniel Robbins shall advise to. 

DR. SAMUEL KINSLEY GLOVER. 

He was the son of Elijah and Abigail (Kinsley) Glover, 
born on Milton Hill, June 28, 1758. He entered Harvard Col¬ 
lege when about eighteen years of age; but during his college 


530 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


course the war broke out, his classical studies were relin¬ 
quished, and he failed to graduate. Under the instruction of 
Dr. John Warren he applied himself to the study of medicine, 
and joined the army in the capacity of surgeon. He was em¬ 
ployed as surgeon in several vessels of war until 1778. He 
was then put in charge of a small-pox hospital on Prospect 
Hill, where the troops of General Burgoyne were stationed as 
prisoners of war. In 1783 he relinquished military life, and 
took up his residence in his native town. He built the “ Glover 
House,” on the northerly slope of Milton Hill, now owned by 
Captain Faucon, and lived there during the latter period of his 
life. He was a useful and intelligent citizen, and filled various 
offices of trust in the town. For twenty-five years he was one 
of the selectmen, serving as their chairman for nine years. He 
was the first postmaster of Milton. His death occurred July 
1, 1839, at the age of eighty-six years. Further reference is 
made to Dr. Glover in the chapter on “ Milton Hill,” under the 
“ Glover Family.” 

DE. THADDEITS WILLIAM HAEEIS. 

He was the son of the Rev. Dr. T. M. Harris, of Dorchester. 
He graduated at Harvard in 1815, and studied medicine with 
Dr. Holbrook, of Milton, whose daughter he married. Dr. 
Harris settled in Milton about 1820, where, and in his native 
town, he continued in practice until 1831, acquiring the reputa¬ 
tion of an excellent physician as well as of a distinguished 
naturalist. He was compelled by failing health to relinquish 
his practice, and accepted the office of librarian to Harvard 
College, which he filled for twenty-five years with great accept¬ 
ance ; but, though eminent in medical science as well as in 
literature, he is better known as the “ Great American Ento¬ 
mologist.” 

DE. GEOEGE BAKEE SWIFT. 

He was horn in Andover, Mass., and graduated at the med¬ 
ical department at Harvard College in 1830. Soon after he 
settled in Milton Village, occupying the house next to the rail¬ 
road depot. He continued here as a practising physician for 
a few years, and then removed to Amoskeag, N.H. His death 
occurred in 1872. 

DE. CHAELES EOLLIN KENNEDY. 

He was horn in Milton, graduated at Harvard College in 
1826, and studied medicine with Dr. Alden in Randolph. He 
settled in his native town in the Scott’s Woods district, devoting 


MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 


531 


his time to business and to his profession; but, not finding the 
practice of medicine congenial with his health, he wholly relin¬ 
quished it for other pursuits. Enfeebled by consumption, he 
was constrained to seek relief in a warmer climate. He died at 
St. Augustine, in 1836. He was an excellent citizen, ready for 
every good work. For four years he was on the School Com¬ 
mittee. To him belongs the credit and the honor of being the 
original mover in establishing the Sabbath school of the First 
Parish, so long and ably supported by Deacon Samuel Adams. 

DE. JONATHAN "WARE. 

He was born in Wrentham, Mass., March 8, 1797. During 
the war of 1812, when about seventeen years of age, he was 
an assistant of Dr. James Mann, the hospital surgeon of the 
Northern army, and served several months in the hospital 
at Burlington, Yt. He received the degree of M.D. from 
Brown University in September, 1821. Dr. Ware settled in 
Milton in 1828. In 1831 he married Mary Ann Tileston, the 
daughter of Edmund Tileston, of Dorchester, one of the origi¬ 
nal partners of the firm of Tileston & Hollingsworth. He 
continued to reside in Milton until his death, June 6, 1877. 
His widow and four children survived him. One of his own 
profession, who knew him well, says : — 

Dr. Ware had for many years a large practice in Milton and adjoining 
towns. He enjoyed the confidence and respect of his patients, and his 
name is spoken of, by those of them who still live, with affection. In his 
medical views he was liberal, trusting largely to nature rather than to 
drugs. Decided in his opinions, he was ready to learn of others. With 
good common-sense and medical tact. A kind friend and an honest man. 

DR. SIMEON PALMER. 

He was born in Boston, 1813 ; entered Yale College, and 
remained there about two years; graduated from the Harvard 
Medical School in 1837. Dr. Palmer purchased the “ Nathaniel 
Tucker ” farm in Scott’s Woods, Milton, and took up his resi¬ 
dence there. He was a member of the School Committee in 
1841, and again in 1850, and continued a useful and honored 
resident of Milton for about thirty years. 

Dr. Palmer is a man of extensive reading, of wide information, 
and of decided opinions. While a resident of Milton he was 
ready to engage in professional practice, as occasion required, 
but seemed to be occupied chiefly in literary pursuits and in¬ 
vestigations. He removed from Milton to Fairhaven, Mass., 
and thence to Roxbury. 


532 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


DR. JOHN SPARE. 

He was born in Canton, witbin a mile of Milton line, Nov. 13, 
1816; attended the West School in Milton, when taught by 
“ Master Houghton; ” fitted for college at Randolph and Amherst 
academies, graduated at Amherst College in 1838, and from the 
Harvard Medical School in 1842. 

He commenced practice in East Milton, 1842; in 1845 he 
removed to Acushnet; thence to East Freetown; and thence to 
New Bedford, where he now resides. 

In the civil war he was surgeon of the U.S. Ship “Release,” 
which sailed, April 23, 1862, on a nine-months cruise to the 
Mediterranean, and made a second voyage to Cadiz, Spain. 
Continuing in the service, he was afterwards, on the blockade of 
Wilmington and Charleston, in the U.S. Steamers “ Mahaska ” 
and “ Yucca; ” resigned July, 1866. Published, 1864, a treatise 
on Differential Calculus ; was author of prize essay of the Mas¬ 
sachusetts Medical Society. Since 1867 he has been sole medical 
examiner for New Bedford of the JEtna Life Insurance Co. Is 
a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society and of the 
American Academy of Medicine. 

DR. WILLIAM RIMMER. 

Dr. Rimmer came to East Milton in 1856, and commenced 
practice as a physician. He lived in the Rand house, now 
owned by Mrs. Brokenshire, and also in the Stone house, on 
Granite avenue. He remained in Milton four or five years, and 
then removed to Chelsea. While a resident of Milton his work 
as an artist attracted much attention. In later life he attained 
distinction in painting and sculpture, while his sketches, full of 
life and true to nature, are much sought for, and are conspicuous 
in many galleries. He died Aug. 20, 1879, aged sixty-three 
years six months, and was buried in Milton Cemetery, on Lilac 
path. His wife, who died July 15, 1885, and four of his children 
lie in the same lot. His grave is often visited by those who 
admired his genius. 

DR. CHRISTOPHER C. HOLMES. 

One of the most prominent figures in Milton, of recent years, 
was that of Dr. C. C. Holmes. For more than forty years he 
was the principal physician of the town; for several years the 
only one. Of great skill both as a physician and a surgeon, he 
yet benefited his patients quite as much by his cheerful presence 
and his words of sympathy and encouragement as by his pro- 





MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 


533 


ishtl 


. the perforn 
t any hour. 

f \. .t nd even i 
;t hurry, and 
t one, carrying 
and friendly v 
as a physician 
l.s a man of al 
sound, whose 


ance c 

ig to one part 
o neighboring 
with a friend' 


lut 


to WE 




s bright smil- 
id not mere! 
ojnmunity. 
ment was more sound, whose advi 
ie opinion had a greater influena 
'prises he was a wise counsellor 
cal matters, especially, his know 
of great value. Much of the t 
his busy life he devoted to the t 
he greater part of his life in* M 
tished success, the musical serve 
for many years a member of t 
He took great interrd) i 
; the,welfare or increa th ... 
few such enterprises v -m.- 
rig upon the experieie •- 


imah 
l sere 


ishine 


valued 


aper. 

member of 
one whose 
as more sought for, 
•'1 public and social 
n able director. In 
i> d cultivated taste 
v hich he could spare 
>f sacred music : and 
directed, with dis- 
his church. He was 
ard Musical Associa- 
lents tending to pro- 
s of the community; 
in the town without 
or the musical taste 


Chris', < >i 


iolmes was 
the 


V-fte: 


in Kingston, Mass., 
so 1 1 of Jedidiah and Priscilla 
ted for college in ’Hingham, 
3, and was graduated in 1837. 
medicihe with Dr. Nichols, of 
»iiu v»c*o 6 i W u V uvu. **„m the Harvard Medical School 
in IS- 10 . After one y arb a as house-surgeon at the Mas¬ 

sachusetts General Hospital he came to Milton, in April. 1841 . 
He joined the Independent Corps of Cadets, Sept. 80 , 1844 , and 
from Aug. 28, 1858, to Jah. 3, 1868, commanded tho corps, with 
tihe rank of lieutenant-colonel. He died in Milton, July 16 , 
1882 , and was buried in the cemetery of the town. A monu¬ 
ment to his memory was, in 1886,, “erected by the Veteran. 
Assoeiatioirof the Independent Corps of Cadets.” 

t)r. Holmes was twice mar ted. His first wife was Elizabeth 
fylarv Rich, daughter of Benjamin and Susannah Rich. They 
were married in Boston, in June, 1842. Mrs. Holmes died May 
18, I8f}3.. Jan. 8, 1868, Dr. Holmes married Annie Porter 
SiTJi', rLtughter of Thomas and Deborah Clark (Allen) Hollis 
tc Tin. 1, 1847, in Milton). Dr. Holmes left three children, 
Hollis, born 1869; Christopher Wilder, born 1872; 











MILTON LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 


533 


fessional services. In the performance of his duty to his patients 
he was untiring. At any hour, and in all weathers, his well- 
known figure might be seen, driving to one part or another of our 
scattered community, and even to neighboring towns; always 
busy, yet seldom in a hurry, and with a friendly nod and word, 
if no more, for every one, carrying with him always the sunshine 
of his bright smile and friendly voice and serene temper. 

And not merely as a physician was he a valued member of 
the community. As a man of affairs there was no one whose 
judgment was more sound, whose advice was more sought for, 
whose opinion had a greater influence. In all public and social 
enterprises he was a wise counsellor and an able director. In 
musical matters, especially, his knowledge and cultivated taste 
were of great value. Much of the time which he could spare 
from his busy life he devoted to the study of sacred music; and 
for the greater part of his life in Milton he directed, with dis¬ 
tinguished success, the musical services of his church. He was 
also for many years a member of the Harvard Musical Associa¬ 
tion. He took great interest in all movements tending to pro¬ 
mote the welfare or increase the happiness of the community; 
and few such enterprises were undertaken in the town without 
calling upon the experience, the judgment, or the musical taste 
of “ The Doctor.” 

Christopher Columbus Holmes was born in Kingston, Mass., 
Sept. 14, 1817. He was the son of Jedidiah and Priscilla 
(Wilder) Holmes. He was fitted for college in Hingham, 
entered Harvard College in 1833, and was graduated in 1837. 
After leaving college he studied medicine with Dr. Nichols, of 
Kingston, and was graduated from the Harvard Medical School 
in 1840. After one year’s service as house-surgeon at the Mas¬ 
sachusetts General Hospital he came to Milton, in April, 1841. 
He joined the Independent Corps of Cadets, Sept. 30, 1844, and 
from Aug. 28, 1858, to Jan. 3, 1868, commanded the corps, with 
the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He died in Milton, July 16, 
1882, and was buried in the cemetery of the town. A monu¬ 
ment to his memory was, in 1886, “erected by the Veteran 
Association of the Independent Corps of Cadets.” 

Dr. Holmes was twice married. His first wife was Elizabeth 
Mary Rich, daughter of Benjamin and Susannah Rich. They 
were married in Boston, in June, 1842. Mrs. Holmes died May 
18, 1863. Jan. 8, 1868, Dr. Holmes married Annie Porter 
Hollis, daughter of Thomas and Deborah Clark (Allen) Hollis 
(born Jan. 1, 1847, in Milton). Dr. Holmes left three children, 
— Annie Hollis, born 1869; Christopher Wilder, born 1872; 
Elizabeth Rich, born 1876. 


534 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


MILTON PHYSICIANS OF 1887. 

DR. HENRY P. JAQTJES. 

He was graduated from the Boston Latin School in 1872, 
Harvard College in 1876, and Harvard Medical School in 1880. 
After a year’s service in the Massachusetts General Hospital 
he passed a year in the hospitals of Vienna. 

He settled in Milton early in 1882. 

DR. MATHER YASSAR PIERCE. 

He graduated at the Boston Latin School in 1873, at Harvard 
College 1877, and at the Harvard Medical School in 1880. He 
studied in the hospitals of Vienna, Berlin, and Heidelberg for 
two years, and took up his residence in Milton in the spring of 
1882. 


DR. WALLACE C. STRATTON. 

He was graduated from the Medical Department of the 
Boston University in 1878, and commenced practice in Milton 
the same year. 


NOTED MEN AND WOMEN. 


535 


CHAPTER XYII. 

NOTED MEN AND WOMEN, AND EARLY FAMILIES. 

SAMUEL ADAMS. 

D EACON SAMUEL ADAMS was one of the twenty chil¬ 
dren of Dr. Samuel Adams, an • eminent physician of 
Truro and Ipswich, Mass., and Bath, Me. He was born in 
Ipswich, March 11, 1791; married Miss Mary Ann Bent, of 
Milton, daughter of Capt. Josiah and Mrs. Susannah Bent, May 
10,1815; and died in Milton, Jan. 3,1879. At the age of fifteen 
Samuel left his home in Bath and entered a store in Boston; 
he afterwards learned the trade of tin-worker, and at twenty- 
two started in business for himself. During the war of 1812 
he was a member of the “ Rangers,” a celebrated military com¬ 
pany of Boston, performing garrison duty at Fort Strong, in 
Boston harbor, for which he afterwards received a pension. 
In 1820 he went to Chelmsford, Mass., to take the agency of the 
New England Glass Works; this position he held until the 
failure of the company some years later. From Chelmsford 
he came to Milton in 1828, and bought the homestead and 
bakery of Captain Bent, his father-in-law. Mr. Bent com¬ 
menced the manufacture of crackers in his own house, built 
in 1800, and had carried on the business in a small way for 
twenty-seven years. Preparations were at once made for in¬ 
creasing the facilities of manufacture; a bakehouse was built, 
which has been several times enlarged and supplied with 
additional ovens, as the demand has continued to increase, 
until the crackers of Bent & Co. are now called for in almost 
every part of the world. 

Deacon Adams was a leading citizen of Milton for nearly 
half a century. At the formation of the Unitarian church, 
1834, he was elected deacon, and this office he held for forty- 
five years, until his death. For twenty years he was superin¬ 
tendent of the Sabbath school, devoting to this important 
interest a large amount of time and the intensity of an 
earnest nature. 


586 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


EEY. ELISHA G. BABCOCK. 

He was born in Milton, Dec. 1,1799. In early life he learned 
and followed the business of a cabinet-maker. At the age of 
nineteen he conceived it to be his duty to relinquish his trade, 
and seek an education preparatory to the ministry. In July, 
1818, he began his classical studies at Milton Academy, aqd 
entered Amherst College two years later, graduating in 1824 in 
the first class that left the college. He completed the pre¬ 
scribed course of professional study at Andover, and commenced 
preaching in the towns of Abington and Sudbury, Mass., and 
subsequently at Wiscasset, Me. In the latter place he was 
invited to settle, and was ordained April, 1829. In June, 1830, 
he married Miss Eliza Hibbard, of Londonderry, N.H. He 
received a unanimous invitation to become the pastor of the 
church in Thetford, Vt., and was installed Feb. 6, 1831, where 
he remained the earnest and efficient pastor during his life, 
dying in the service Sept. 21, 1848. 

REV. JOSIAH BADCOCK. 

He was the son of Nathan Badcock, born in Milton in 1752. 
He graduated at Harvard College in 1772, and was settled in 
the ministry at Andover, N.H., the Rev. Benjamin Wadsworth, 
of Danvers, preaching the ordination sermon in 1783. He left 
the active work of the ministry twenty years before his death, 
and lived quietly on his farm, where he died in 1831. 

RTTETTS BADCOCK. 

He was the son of George and Ruth Badcock, born in Milton, 
July 6, 1755. He graduated at Harvard in 1775, in the class 
with Edward H. Robbins. He became a teacher, and died in 
a Southern State, where he was employed in his profession, in 
1793. 


ANN BENT. 

Ann Bent was the daughter of Rufus Bent and Ann (Mid¬ 
dleton) McKenzie. Her father, Rufus Bent (born March 10, 
1741-2), was the son of Joseph and Martha (Houghton) 
Bent, who were married in Milton, Feb. 13, 1723-4. Her 
mother, Ann Middleton (born 1741, died July 31, 1807), was 
great-granddaughter of Dr. George Middleton, Principal of 
King’s College, Aberdeen, Scotland, whose grandson, Alex¬ 
ander Middleton, Jr., came to Boston about 1735, and married 


NOTED MEN AND WOMEN. 


537 


Ann Todd, 1 sister to Mrs. James Smith. After their father’s 
death and their mother’s second marriage, the three daughters 
of Alexander Middleton lived principally with their aunt and 
uncle at Brush Hill; and after Mr. Smith’s marriage to Mrs. 
Campbell a strong friendship sprang up between Mary, Ann, 
and Prudence Middleton, 2 the nieces of his first 3 wife, and 
Dorothy and Elizabeth Murray, the nieces of his second wife; 
a friendship which has been perpetuated through all branches 
of their descendants. 

In 1763 Ann Middleton married, in Milton, Andrew Mc¬ 
Kenzie, of Dorchester, by whom she had a daughter, Ann, born 
May 3, 1764, who probably died young. Her marriage with 
Rufus Bent took place 1767; and Ann, the eldest of seven 
children, two sons and five daughters, was born June 19, 1768. 4 
She was early called to aid in the support of the family; and 
while still quite a child went to live with Madam Price at 
Hopkinton, for two pistareens a week. Madam Price was very 
kind to her, and always remained her firm friend. After some 
years she returned to Milton, and taught school on Milton Hill, 
in the small school-house which was built in 1793 and burned 
down Nov. 23, 1846. She lived with Judge Robbins in what 
was afterwards known as the “ Churchill house,” at the head 
of Churchill’s lane, and four of his children attended her school: 
Eliza, Edward, Sarah, and Ann-Jean. In 1795, by the ad¬ 
vice of Judge Robbins, Miss Bent opened a shop at 56 Marl¬ 
borough street (afterwards 214 Washington street 5 ), which 
was in the beginning stocked for her by Messrs. Gregory & 
Pickard with goods imported by them for her to sell on com¬ 
mission. At first she and her sister Sarah, who aided her, 
boarded with Mrs. Thayer (mother of Rev. Dr. Thayer, 6 of 
Lancaster), in what is now Washington street, opposite Central 

1 Alexander Middleton and Ann Todd were published Nov. io, 1735. She married, 
second, Sept. 28, 1752, David Fick, foreman of Mr. Smith in his sugar refinery; a 
marriage which was very displeasing to Mr. Smith. 

2 Mary Middleton married James Lovell, son of John Lovell, master of the Boston 
Latin School; an ardent patriot, and member of Congress all through the Revolution. 
Her only daughter, Mary Lovell, married Mark Pickard, an Englishman, and was the 
mother of Mrs. Henry Ware, Jr. Prudence Middleton married Dr. Joseph Whipple, 
surgeon in the State Corps of Artillery, Lieut.-Col. Paul Revere commanding; her four 
children died unmarried. A fourth daughter, Helen Middleton, died unmarried. 

s There is a tradition that Mr. Smith was three times married. He was born, son of 
James and Prudence, June 12, 1689. 

4 Rev. J. H. Morison, in the notes to his Centennial sermon, June, 1862, says that 
Ann Bent’s birthplace was a house that used to stand in a now disused lane leading south 
from Canton avenue, just east of the Amory place (now Col. H. S. Russell’s). There is 
an old well at the entrance. 

s The first number of the shop-door was 214, and that of her house, when she lived over 
the shop, was 216; but after a fire, in 1837, the shop was placed on the right and became 
216, and the house 214. 

6 Father of John E. and Nathaniel Thayer, founders of the banking-house which is 
now Messrs. Kidder, Peabody, & Co. 



538 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


court (probably No. 3 Marlborough street); but later she 
removed to the house over her shop; and here, until her 
retirement from business in 1833, and her removal to Canton 
a year or two before her death, she lived and worked, supporting 
and assisting her sisters and later her nieces, whom she educated 
and started in business. Capable, energetic, and business-like, 
she yet had a warm, generous heart, which made her a blessing 
to all her friends and acquaintances; and, in such a small 
community as Boston was then, these included all the people 
worth knowing: she knew everybody and everybody knew 
her. Her shop was a kind of ladies’ exchange, where friends 
could meet by appointment or otherwise, where they were 
always sure to find the best French and English goods to be 
had in the town, and where the relation between those be¬ 
hind and those before the counter was such as would be impos¬ 
sible now. 1 

Miss Bent early became interested in Dr. Channing’s 
preaching, and was a constant attendant at Federal-street 
Church during his pastorate and that of the Rev. Dr. Gannett, 
his successor. The last two years of her life were passed in 
Canton at the house of her sister, Mrs. Rufus Kinsley, sur¬ 
rounded by the affectionate care of three generations of rela¬ 
tives and friends; and she finally passed away, in full possession 
of her faculties, on the 27th day of February, 1857, aged 
eighty-eight years, eight months, and eight days. 

REV. JOSIAH BENT, JR. 

He was the eldest son of Josiah Bent, of Milton, the origina¬ 
tor of the Bent Bakery, on Highland street. He was born at 


1 Her first assistants in the shop were her sisters Mary and Sarah (Mrs. Charles 
Barnard) ; then Nancy Pierce (who married Gideon F. Thayer, master of Chauncy Halt 
School), and Fanny Cushing (who married Dr. Stone, of Greenfield, and was mother of 
Gen. C. P. Stone). She later took into her family, educated, and started in business, 
her sisters’ children, Ann M. Allen (Mrs. Nathaniel Tracy) and Mary Bent Kinsley; 
and later still, Ann Kinsley and Sarah B. Kinsley (who married her cousin, William H. 
Allen). When Miss Bent retired Miss Ann Allen and William H. Allen continued the 
business at 216 Washington street; and this shop retained the high character that Miss 
Bent’s had always had. Mr. Allen remained on the same spot until the great fire of 1872. 

A niece of Miss Bent said of her: “ The beauty and purity of my aunt’s character no 

one knows better than myself. I lived in the most intimate relation with her for more 
than forty years, and I never saw her do or heard her say anything that might not have 
been said or done before the whole world. In her business relations she was perfection; 
she was so high-minded and so just to everybody in her dealings and her estimation of 
character. She was a mother to her sisters and their children, ever thinking of their good.” 

“ These were the qualities which made steadfast friends of those whose friendship was 
most to be sought, and formed for her a home in which she was never allowed to feel 
the loneliness of celibacy or age. The affluent, the educated and refined, valued her 
society and were among her cherished friends. But there was a nearer circle yet. 
Children were drawn towards her; and as one generation of those to whom she had been 
as a mother left her to establish homes of their own, others still younger took their place, 
and looked up to her with love and reverence.” — Dr. Morison’s Centennial Sermon. 





NOTED MEN AND WOMEN. 


539 


the Milton homestead ; graduated at Harvard College in 1822; 
studied theology at Princeton, and devoted his life to the min¬ 
istry. He settled in Weymouth, and was ordained pastor of the 
First Church. In 1834 he was installed as pastor of the church 
in Falmouth, Cape Cod, and was dismissed in 1837 to take 
charge of the First Church, of Amherst, Mass., where he died 
Nov. 19, 1839. His body was brought to Milton for burial, 
and placed in the Bent tomb. He married Miss Paulena Rice, 
of Albany, and had six children. 

WILLIAM DAVIS. 

William Davis came to Milton when a boy, and learned the 
trade of leather-dressing in the shops of General Whitney. He 
was a poor boy when he commenced his apprenticeship, but 
faithful and trustworthy and careful to save his wages. He 
acquired a thorough knowledge of the business, and at the end 
of his service continued with General Whitney as journeyman 
for several years. We then find him starting the business for 
himself, which he carried on at different places. 

Afterwards he came back to Milton and purchased of Maj. 
Samuel H. Babcock the “ Babcock Farm,” where he set up the 
“ wool business,” near the old establishments of Caleb Hobart 
and General Whitney, who evidently looked upon the new 
enterprise as antagonistic to their own. 

Mr. Davis entered no rings ; he kept his own counsels, made 
his own bargains, and moved on in the even tenor of his ways, 
which seemed always to be in the path of integrity, and, con¬ 
sequently, of progress and success; and in the end he left an 
estate larger than the united estates of his Milton competitors. 

Mr. Davis was a plain man. To a casual acquaintance he 
seemed distant and morose. But beneath the calm exterior was 
a warm and tender heart. In a sermon, preached on the Sab¬ 
bath after his death by the Rev. Dr. Morison, in a brief sentence, 
the character of our worthy citizen is truly described: “He 
did good by stealth.” The worthy poor, the dependent, the 
suffering, found in him a constant friend, and these are the only 
earthly witnesses of his many acts of benevolence. 

SAMUEL HENSHAW. 

He was the son of Samuel, Jr., and Waitstill Henshaw ; was 
born in Milton, at the Henshaw homestead on Center street and 
Randolph avenue, 1744. He graduated at Harvard College in 
1773, and studied for the ministry, but subsequently relin¬ 
quished that calling. He married Sarah, daughter of Nathan- 


540 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


iel Swift, in 1777; she died in 1781, and he married a daughter 
of Rey. John Hunt, of the Old South Church. 

Mr. Henshaw may justly be ranked among the most energetic 
and useful citizens of Milton during the revolutionary struggle. 
He was a member from Milton, with Hon. Edward H. Robbins, 
of the convention which formed the Constitution of Massachu¬ 
setts in 1779, and he represented the town at the General 
Court in 1780. Many of the stirring papers of the times found 
in our records were the productions of his hand. After the 
Revolution he removed to Northampton, and was appointed to 
the office of Judge of Probate for Hampshire County, in which 
service he continued until his death in 1809. 


THOMAS HEWES HINCKLEY. 

Thomas Hewes Hinckley was born in Milton, in the house 
now owned and occupied by him on Brook Road, Nov. 4, 1818. 
His early education was received at the schools of his native 
town. As a child he evinced a love of art. After his father’s 
death there were found among his private papers two creditable 
drawings of a pig and dog, marked “ T. H. H., aged 4.” In 
1829 he was sent by his father, who was greatly opposed to his 
following art' as a vocation, to Philadelphia, to engage in mer¬ 
cantile pursuits. While in that city he came under the instruc¬ 
tion of Mason, a most conscientious teacher, who held evening 
classes in drawing at his house. Mason’s methods of instruction 
were those adopted later by the Lowell Institute, of Boston, 
and furnished to the boy admirable drill in the study of per¬ 
spective, light, and shade. This was, in fact, the only instruction 
he ever received. Returning to Boston, he abandoned, on the 
death of his father, in 1883, his early occupation, and began 
his career, first as sign and fancy painter; then essayed portrait¬ 
ure; and, finally, found his congenial field in animal painting. 
His first effort in this department, in 1838, was a spaniel painted 
for, and still in possession of, E. J. Baker, Esq. But his first 
picture to attract public attention was in 1843, — “A Setter and 
Pups,” purchased by Lucius Manlius Sargent, Esq. 

In 1845 he built his studio in Milton, and the same year was 
invited by Daniel Webster to visit Marshfield, and make draw¬ 
ings of his famous Ayrshire herd. The sketches of these cattle 
furnished material for many pictures the following years, most 
of which were bought by the American Art Union. In 1850 
he painted “ The Disputed Game ” and “ The Rabbit-Hunter,” 
both bought by the American Art Union. The former picture 
attracted the attention of Jenny Lind, who was then in this 


NOTED MEN AND WOMEN. 


541 


country, and who endeavored to purchase it from the Art 
Union ; the latter was bought by Smith Van Buren at the sale 
of the closing of the before-mentioned institution. 

Through the enthusiastic interest of William W. Swain, Esq., 
of Naushon Island, familiarly known as “ the Governor,” he 
was given every facility for studying the deer inhabiting that 
favored spot. Later he continued his studies of the animal in 
the Adirondack Mountains, and at Moosehead Lake. “ The 
Sentinel Deer,” painted in 1850, was bought by Governor 
Swain, and presented to Governor Clifford. In 1851 he visited 
Europe, to study the works of Landseer and other English and 
Flemish artists. In 1857 he painted two pictures of dogs and 
game, which were exhibited in the Royal Academy Exhibition, 
London, in 1858. In 1870 he visited California, and made 
studies of the elk. “ The Single Elk,” giving Cape Mendocino 
and the Pacific Ocean, from Humboldt County, was sold in 
New York. To the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876 he sent 
“ The End of the Chase.” Among other pictures which have 
attracted attention are, “ The Buck at Bay,” owned by Charles 
R. Greene, of New York; “The Dead Shot,” bought by Russell 
Sturgis, of London ; “ Rebel and Tramp,” owned by Henry A. 
Whitney ; “ The Post-Mortem Examination,” bought by George 
R. Russell ; “ Bull’s Head,” owned by Smith College, North¬ 
ampton ; “ The Three Rogues; ” “ Great Expectations,” etc. 
His pictures are in the galleries of the principal cities of the 
United States. The scenery of his native town has furnished 
him abundant material for. his brush. He has followed no artist 
or school of art; but has endeavored to represent nature as he 
saw it. The recorded number of pictures he has painted up to 
1886 is 478. Of late years he has rarely exhibited in public. 

CALEB HOBABT. 

Mr. Hobart came to Milton about 1797, and purchased a 
tract of land now mostly embraced in the estate of T. Edwin 
Ruggles. For several years he was engaged largely in business 
as a butcher, mostly in the mutton trade, employing many 
hands in marketing. In the war of 1812 wool rose to such 
a price that the wool of a single skin would nearly pay for the 
whole animal. He commenced to pull the wool from his own 
skins, and soon began to buy skins from other butchers, thus 
establishing a large business for the times. His first place of 
business was on Canton avenue, near the residence of Mrs. 
Godfrey; subsequently he removed to the rear of the present 
Ruggles house, where the business was continued for fifteen 


542 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


years or more. Mr. Hobart was a useful citizen and a good 
member of society. He left by will to the minister of the First 
Evangelical Church of Milton the sum of two thousand dollars, 
the income of which is paid annually to the poor of the town. 

KEY. CALEB HOBART. 

He was the son of Caleb Hobart, Sen. He fitted for college 
at Milton Academy, and prepared himself for the ministry. He 
was ordained as pastor of the Second Church, North Yarmouth, 
Me., Dec. 3, 1823, and continued in this, his first and only pas¬ 
torate, until his death in 1864. He married Miss Hyde, of 
North Yarmouth. 


GEORGE HOLLINGSWORTH. 

George Hollingsworth, born Oct. 17, 1813, died March 20, 
1882, was one of the sons of the late Mark Hollingsworth, who 
was well known as a member of the firm of Tileston & Hollings¬ 
worth, paper manufacturers, a business still continued under 
the same style by descendants in the third generation. In the 
development of the mental faculties of George Hollingsworth 
an early predominant trait determined his choice of profession 
as an artist. Keen powers and habits of observation, subordi¬ 
nate to the discipline of his profession, imparted a clear intel¬ 
lectual vision and imbued his utterances even in social converse 
with the charm of originality. To these advantages were added 
diligent study and enlarged culture in foreign schools, and 
during his sojourn amid the repositories of European art. The 
munificent endowment of the Lowell Institute had enabled its 
trustee, in the eminently wise administration of his trust, to 
establish, as early as 1850, a department of free instruction in 
the principles and art of drawing and its kindred utilities. 

To this school applicants were received as pupils whose good 
moral character, ability, and skill were accompanied with a taste 
for drawing and design. Of this school, known as the Lowell 
Art School, Mr. Hollingsworth was chosen manager and 
teacher. He entered upon these duties in the maturity of his 
powers, impressed with a due sense of his responsibilities in 
these untried relations, of the discouragements attendant upon 
efforts to keep alive in such rudimentary departments that 
vitality which consists in sound method, and of the limited 
scope afforded for the exercise of that freedom which experi¬ 
ence in more advanced studies was suited to impart. This 
school was sustained with merited success both in the progress 
of its pupils and the impulse imparted in the establishment of 



NOTED MEN AND WOMEN. 


543 


kindred schools. At the suggestion of Mr. Hollingsworth its 
privileges were subsequently extended to both sexes and to the 
lady teachers of the Boston schools; and Mr. William T. Carlton 
rendered several years of valuable service as Mr. Hollingsworth’s 
assistant. Of the five thousand pupils in art instruction in the 
city of Boston thus disciplined under the educational culture 
and professional endowments of the subject of this sketch dur¬ 
ing twenty-eight years in his efficient superintendence, many 
have attained distinguished reputation as sculptors, painters, 
and teachers. 

Mr. Hollingsworth was at an early period a member of the 
Artists’ Association of Boston, which enrolled as associates the 
names of eminent artists and leading engravers. Hence, the 
Artists’ Association in primary influence, and the Lowell Art 
School in more direct and immediate agency, became the germ 
of the present Art School. The committee of trustees of the 
existing Museum of Fine Arts, in their recent appeal for a 
subscription of $300,000 to enlarge their museum, commend its 
high educational character, its opportunities, and increasing 
demands, ministering “ not merely to the student and lover of 
art, but to large numbers hitherto ignorant, yet by no means 
unsusceptible of artistic teaching.” 

While Mr. Hollingsworth, in his life-work as an artist, recog¬ 
nized allegiance to the sway of rigid conventional rules in the 
realms of art, he took advantage of new opportunities and im¬ 
proved methods to encourage in his pupils works worthy of 
intelligent admiration. Nor was he unmindful of the dawn of 
a new era in the progress of the imitative arts, coordinate with 
those of the studio, then claiming to assume a rank more exclu¬ 
sive and aesthetic. The great discovery of Daguerre, and the 
marvellous adaptability of photography to manifold uses, be¬ 
came world-wide disseminators of the designs of art and a 
normal element of culture in the education of the masses. The 
classic forms and unrivalled designs of the old masters, which 
enriched the Vatican, the cathedrals,.palaces, and galleries of 
the Old World; the triumphs of individual genius, of West, 
Copley, and Leslie; the pictorial records depicted by Trumbull 
of scenes and events of revolutionary renown ; the national 
portraits of Stuart; the varied conceptions of Allston, — emerg¬ 
ing from the silence of their wonted repose to be transposed to 
an enlarged domain opening to the improvements in pho¬ 
tography, engraving, and invention, to embellish the volumes 
of literature and science, assert preeminence as the handmaid 
of industrial art in a household age, and intromit a renaissance 
akin to the renovation of Italian art, even as the sun in its 


544 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


course shall ever open on the land of shadows the myriad forms 
of art on which its rays have rested. 

The economic advancement of industrial art in the United 
States, in varied applied arts, to manufactures, in competition 
with those upon which some branches of European industry 
depend, is already a topic of discussion in foreign journals. 
The fine arts, however, under their governmental system of 
patronage and endowments, must remain the prerogative of 
European schools. To have served his generation as a co-worker 
in the application of designs so refined, to utilities so expansive; 
to have promoted by the free school of his profession the unob¬ 
trusive beneficence of industrial art; to have maintained the 
reputation of the good neighbor and exemplary citizen,—is suf¬ 
ficient tribute to ability and worth. And such was the lot of 
our departed friend. 

REV. JOHN HUNT. 

He was born in Milton, and was the son of John Hunt, who 
lived in Scott’s Woods, in the house now owned by Edmund J. 
Baker. He was a brother of Mary Hunt, well known to many 
of our citizens, who in the last year of her life was blind, and 
received the sympathy and assistance of her many sincere 
friends; she died Oct. 9, 1885. 

Mr. Hunt studied for the ministry, and was for many years 
settled as pastor of the Baptist Church, Long Meadow, Mass. 
He and his wife died in September, 1854. 

WILLIAM SANEORD HUTCHINSON. 

He was the son of Gov. Thomas Hutchinson. He was born 
at the Governor’s mansion, on Milton Hill, June 30, 1752, and 
graduated at Harvard in 1770. 

When the Governor left his native shores for England, in 1774, 
he accompanied his father, or soon followed him, and died at 
Brompton, Feb. 26,1780, a few months before his father. 

JOHN LILLIE. 

Maj. John Lillie was born in Boston, July 18, 1752, and 
married Elizabeth Vose, daughter of Daniel Vose and Elizabeth 
(Smith) Vose, of Milton. He was a member of Paddock’s Art. 
Co. before the war ; commissioned 2d Lieut, in Morton’s Co. of 
Gridle} , ’’s Regt., May 1,1775, and present at the siege of Boston 
1st Lieut, in Knox Regt. of Artillery in 1776; Capt.-Lieut. in 
Crane’s Regt. in 1777 ; commissioned Captain, Nov. 1, 1778 ; 
Aide-de-Camp to General Knox, May 1, 1782; appointed Cap- 



. I 













544 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


course shall ever open on the land of shadows the myriad forms 
of art on which its rays have rested. 

The economic advancement of industrial art in the United 

States, in varied applied art-, P. - < ore s, b 


t remain the pirerog 
i his generation as a c 
in6(1} 4-) utilities so. ex 


dep; 




Co. before the war ; commissioned 2d Lieut, in Morton s Co. ot. 
Gridle 3 r ’s Regt., May 1,1775, and present at the siege of Boston 
1st Lieut, in Knox Regt. of Artillery in 1776; Capt.-Lieut. in 
C rane’s Regt. in 1777 i commissioned Captain, Nov. 1, 1778/$ 
Aide<ie-Camp to General Knox, May 1, 1(82; appointed (.aj^>- 
















NOTED MEN AND WOMEN. 


545 


tain of 2d U.S. Artillery, Feb. 16, 1801, and commanded at 
West Point at the time of his death, Sept. 22, 1801. 

In a letter addressed to the Hon. Samuel Smith, member of 
Congress from Maryland, Major Lillie narrates some incidents 
of his military experience in the war. This letter first appeared 
in Bradford’s notices of distinguished men, issued in 1842, and 
is here reproduced : — 

I fought with you often in the same field, and bore with you the hard¬ 
ships and misfortunes which the incidents of war called us to encounter. It 
was my lot to be sometimes with a gallant regiment from Maryland, com¬ 
manded by the brave Colonel Smallwood, and to see it wasted away by 
fatigues and hard fighting in defending the country. Too well and with 
pain do I recollect many brave officers of that corps falling by our sides ; 
and it seemed as if we were designated as targets for the enemy to fire at. 
But, thank Heaven, some of us still live (1799) to repeat the tale of events, 
and condole with each other on the past catastrophe. If my services in the 
action on Long Island (1776), and assisting in the retreat from a very for¬ 
midable British army — if, with six men in a small boat, after the evacua¬ 
tion of Governor’s Island by our troops, I went over, unspiked some of the 
cannon, fired on the “Roebuck,” of forty-four guns, obliging her to slip her 
cables and retire to Staten Island, by which means we went over in the 
night with a hundred men, and brought off all the guns and stores to New 
York— if the service performed with two twelve-pounders in cannonading 
the Rose ship, from an open field, when commanded by Commodore Wallis 
was of any utility to our cause—if by assisting by two six-pounders in 
defending Chatterton’s Hill in front of White Plains four hours, in presence 
of the whole English army, where you acted well your part, and so many 
brave men of your regiment fell by our side — if on our retreat through the 
mire of New Jersey, bootless, and with scarcely a shoe, when the soldiers 
were so disheartened that a whole brigade of militia, to which I was then 
annexed, deserted me in one night, leaving my artillery without protection, 
except a small band of veterans, w r hich, with some address, I kept together 
by my company—if, on that memorable, that most important night for 
America, when her liberty or bondage was vibrating by a silken thread, I 
did my duty at the attack of Trenton, that night, which may be almost said 
sealed the independence of our country — if, in the advance of the army to 
Princeton, almost barefooted, over frozen ground, where the brave General 
Mercer fell, a few feet from my side, in the first of the attack — if at Chads- 
ford, on the Brandywine, I sustained the heat of the action, and brought off 
my artillery safe — if on that dark dismal night at Paolis with General 
Wayne and twelve hundred men, three hundred of whom were massacred, 
at the recollection of which the eye of humanity must ever weep, I sup¬ 
ported a soldier’s character through the day — if, on that melting Sunday, in 
addition to my other duties at Monmouth, I took the first prisoner by single 
combat, a sergeant of grenadiers, with his arms, and brought him to General 
Lee, from whom we received early information of the enemy’s position and 
strength — if at the close of eight years’ service, as far as I know my own 
heart, I sheathed a sword without a tarnish of dishonor, which had been the 
companion of my toils during that period — if still retaining an inflexible 
attachment for my country, its constitution and laws, with a desire to defend 
it when necessary, against all enemies — if there is any merit in these trans¬ 
actions I would only claim my little share, by having done the duty assigned 
me on the theatre of the late war. 



546 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Captain Lillie was presented with a sword by Washington, 
and also with one by LaFayette, which is in the possession of 
his grandson, the Hon. Henry L. Pierce. 

A monument was in 1868 erected to his memory, in the West 
Point Cemetery, by his grandchildren John and Daniel C. Lillie. 

REV. JOHN MILLER. 

He was the son of Samuel Miller, Jr., and Rebecca Minot, 
born in Milton, at the Miller house, on Adams street, 1733. 
He graduated at Harvard in 1752, and was ordained to the 
ministry at Brunswick, Me., in 1762, where he remained for 
many years. He died in Boston, Jan. 25, 1789, during a tem¬ 
porary absence from his parish for the benefit of his health. 

JAMES MURRAY ROBBINS. 

Nathaniel Robbins and Mary Brazier, his wife, came from 
Scotland about 1670, and settled in Cambridge, where he died 
in 1719, aged seventy years. They had eight children. 

The fifth child, Nathaniel, was born Feb. 28, 1677, and mar¬ 
ried Hannah Chandler; they moved to Charlestown about 
1700, living there thirty years, and then moved to Cambridge, 
where he died in 1741, aged sixty-four years; his wife died in 
1738, aged forty-four years. They had nine children. 

Thomas Robbins, the third child and the great-grandfather 
of James M. Robbins, was born Aug. 11,1703, and died in Lex¬ 
ington June 30, 1791, aged • eighty-eight years. He married, 
first, Ruth Johnson, who died June 27, 1737, aged thirty-five 
years; and, second, Exene Jackson. He had thirteen children, 
six born in Cambridge and seven in Lexington. 

Rev. Nathaniel Robbins, the second son of Thomas and grand¬ 
father of James M. Robbins, was born in West Cambridge in 
1726. Here he passed his youth and fitted for college. He 
graduated at Harvard in the class of 1747. He completed his 
theological studies at Cambridge, under the direction of Rev. 
Samuel Cook, of his native parish. 

On the 13th of February, 1751, Nathaniel Robbins, in the 
twenty-fourth year of his age, was ordained pastor of the Church 
of Milton, and died among the people of his first and only charge, 
May 19, 1795, aged sixty-nine years, after a pastorate of nearly 
forty-five years. In 1775 he married Elizabeth, youngest 
daughter of Hon. Edward Hutchinson, of Boston, brother of 
Gov. Thomas Hutchinson’s father. Her father for many years 
was Judge of Probate for Suffolk County, and was treasurer of 
Harvard College from 1726 until his death in 1752. 






NOTED MEN AND WOMEN 


547 


Mr. Robbins bad two sons and one daughter. The daughter 
died Aug. 31, 1786, unmarried, at the age of twenty-seven 
years. His youngest son, Nathaniel Johnson, was a graduate of 
Harvard in 1784, and died May 7, 1799, aged thirty-three years. 

The wife of Mr. Robbins and the companion of his labors 
died May 2, 1793, aged sixty-two years. 

His life in Milton is fully related under “ Ministers of Milton.” 

Lieut.-Gov. Edward Hutchinson Robbins, the eldest son of 
Rev. Nathaniel, and father of James M., was born in Milton, 
1757; graduated at Harvard in 1775, and died Dec. 29, 1829. 
He rose to distinction at the bar, but was chiefly engaged in the 
service of the State. More particular reference is made to him 
under “ Lawyers of Milton.” 

James Murray Robbins was born June 30, 1796, at the 
“ Churchill house,” on Milton hill, then owned by his father. 
He attended school for years at Milton Academy, which his 
father was mainly instrumental in establishing, and of which he 
was the only president, through a period of thirty-two years, 
till his death. To this office James M. Robbins was elected in 
1840, and he continued to hold the same until liis resignation, 
by reason of feeble health, in 1884. 

At the age of fifteen he entered the counting-room of Messrs. 
James and Thomas H. Perkins, of Boston, and acquired a 
knowledge of mercantile pursuits. For two years he made 
voyages as supercargo to the West Indies and the Baltic in 
their employ. Subsequently he engaged with his brother, Dr. 
Edward H. Robbins, in the manufacture and sale of woollens; 
and for a year and a half he was employed by the woollen- 
dealers of New England as their agent for the purchase of wool 
in Germany. 

In the year 1814 he was connected with the American Con¬ 
sulate at Hamburg, Germany, as deputy; on one occasion sign¬ 
ing a passport for our former citizen, the late Charles R. Dagen. 
In his official capacity at Hamburg, acting in the absence of his 
superior, Hon. John Murray Forbes, and when but nineteen 
years of age, he represented the United States, with the invited 
delegates of all foreign governments, at the civic banquet given 
to Prince Bliicher and his victorious troops; on their return from 
Waterloo. 

While on his way to Germany he was captured by a British 
cruiser and taken into Southampton, but was released on ac¬ 
count of his youth. 

When quite a young man he rode on horseback through the 
whole of Dorsetshire, exploring the old town of Dorchester and 
other homes of our first settlers. Here, perhaps, began that 


548 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


taste for antiquarian research which was continued through life, 
until his mind became a storehouse of the garnered treasures of 
other days and other men. He was the author of the first six 
chapters of the “ History of Dorchester.” He was the chosen 
orator at the bi-centennial celebration of Milton, 1862, furnish¬ 
ing material in the address then delivered which will ever 
remain the substratum of Milton history. In 1884 he was ap¬ 
pointed by the town one of a committee to write and publish 
the history of Milton. Since that time this work has been in 
progress, and before the prostration of his powers all the man¬ 
uscript prepared passed under his inspection and received his 
approval. The general plan of the work is in accordance with 
his suggestions, but its completion, we deeply regret, he is not 
spared to join in. 

Mr. Robbins filled several offices of trust connected with the 
State, and often served on important committees in the town. 
He represented the town at the General Court in 1837 and 
1860; he was chosen State senator for this district in 1842. At 
the opening of Milton Public Library in 1871 Mr. Robbins was 
chosen president of the Board of Trustees, which office he re¬ 
tained by annual reelection till his death. Although not so much 
in public life as his immediate ancestors, he had a work to perform, 
which was done in a quiet way. He was always approachable to 
those needing advice and assistance, and his wise counsel and 
helpful words and deeds have lifted many a heavy burden. He 
was loyal to his native town, and interested in all things touch¬ 
ing the welfare of his fellow-citizens. Good judgment and a 
somewhat conservative view of men and things led him to 
oppose extravagant notions and thoughtless expenditure. But 
his advice was sought and accepted by the town in all matters 
of general interest. 

Mr. Robbins married Frances Mary Harris Oct. 7,1835. She 
died Feb. 20, 1870. She was an excellent woman, of earnest 
purpose and life. 

The following obituary notice of Mrs. Robbins is from the 
pen of Wendell Phillips: — 

Frances Mary Robbins, wife of Hon. James M. Robbins, of Milton, 
Mass., was one of our former co-workers in the anti-slavery cause, and one 
of the earliest of the slave’s friends. Her interest in this and kindred 
reforms sprung from the noblest motives and moulded to higher pur¬ 
pose what was always an earnest life. Faithful in every relation, she was 
especially self-sacrificing in her labors with the Church; while feai'ing 
God, she feared not the face of man. Though priest and people were not 
waked to Christian life by her appeals, they were stirred to profound rev¬ 
erence for a true woman, and for a zeaious, outspoken life whose real 
influence other eyes than man’s alone can measure. 


NOTED MEN AND WOMEN. 


549 


Mr. Robbins died Monday, Nov. 2, 1885, at the ripe age of 
eighty-nine years and four months, being the last of his genera¬ 
tion. His funeral occurred on the following Wednesday at the 
homestead on Brush Hill. This last service was attended by a 
large concourse of kindred and townsmen, the aged and the 
young, “ sorrowing most of all that they should see his face no 
more.” As the procession moved along, the church bells tolled 
a parting knell, and the remains of our beloved and honored 
citizen were deposited with his kindred, till the “ voice of the 
archangel and the trump of God.” 

JONATHAN RUSSELL, LL.D. 

Jonathan Russell was son of Thomas Russell, born in Provi¬ 
dence, R.I., 1771; graduated at Brown University, 1791, with 
the highest honors of his -class, and died at Milton, Mass., Feb. 
16,1832. Educated in the legal profession, and admitted to the 
bar, he early embarked in commercial pursuits, and was subse¬ 
quently prominent in political affairs. Consul to France in the 
time of Napoleon Bonaparte; during several years minister- 
plenipotentiary at Stockholm, and one of the five commissioners 
who negotiated the treaty of Ghent, 1 in 1814. His ability and 
endowments found signal occasion for exercise in his diplomatic 
correspondence while in Paris, London, and Stockholm. The 
commissioners to treat for peace, in accordance with the con¬ 
current action of the Senate in January, 1814, were Albert 
Gallatin, James A. Bayard, John Quincy Adams, Jonathan Rus¬ 
sell, and Henry Clay. Of these, Clay and Russell sailed from 
New York on their mission on 23d February, with instructions 
to insist upon a cessation, on the part of the British, of the 
degrading practices of search and impressment of seamen. 
Although the treaty of peace did not secure to the Americans 
that immunity from search and impressment which they sought, 
and not all the concessions which the administration had hoped 
to attain, yet it brought with it the boon of peace and many 
public advantages, — advantages to be derived from its provi¬ 
sions for final settlement of boundaries, the exclusive right to 
the navigation of the Mississippi river, while it curtailed some 
important privileges which the mariners of New England 


1 At the negotiation of the treaty of Ghent, a proviso was agreed upon that all vessels 
and places taken after that date should he given up. One of the English commissioners 
remarked: “ Then we shall have to surrender New Orleans to you.” Jonathan Russell is 
said to have replied, “ You have not yet got it.” — “ Well,” responded the commissioner, 
“ with such a force as we have sent there, and with so small a force as you have to oppose 
us, it is almost certain that we have taken it, — why do you think otherwise ? ”—“ Because 
General Jackson is there,” was the reply. 



550 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


had heretofore enjoyed on the shores of the Gulf of St. Law¬ 
rence. 

It subserved the interests of humanity in securing the cooper¬ 
ation of the two nations in efforts to suppress the inhuman 
traffic in slaves. 

The military operations had disturbed, in a degree, our rela¬ 
tions with Canada, and the treaty tended to a permanent recog¬ 
nition of our national independence and the guaranty of our 
free institutions. 

During the period of Mr. Russell’s agency in our foreign 
affairs, the unsettled condition which prevailed in regard to 
European policy was attended with extraordinary trials and 
discouragement in the conduct of our national affairs, and 
devolved unusual responsibilities upon our ministers and com¬ 
missioners at foreign courts. 

Mr. Russell was Minister to Sweden and Norway, January 
18, 1814—October 16, 1818. 

On his return to this country he settled at Mendon, Mass., and 
was a representative from Massachusetts, in the seventeenth 
Congress as a Democrat, defeating Benjamin Adams, Federalist, 
serving from Dec. 3, 1821, to March 3,1823. He filled other 
high and responsible stations, and performed their duties with 
marked ability. He was well versed in political science, and a 
vigorous, versatile, and graceful writer in his stjde of composi¬ 
tion ; but his tastes inclined to political affairs, and he left few 
records of his varied intellectual gifts other than such as are 
found in his diplomatic correspondence. He pronounced an 
oration in the Baptist meeting-house in Providence, R.I., on 
the anniversary of American Independence, 4th July, 1800, 
which had the rare fortune of reaching more than twenty edi¬ 
tions. The late George R. Russell, of Roxbury, also distin¬ 
guished for his talents, was his son. Members of the family are 
resident at the “ Governor Hutchinson place,” Milton Hill, a 
place which has long been noted for the residence of families of 
local distinction or renown. 

ANNA STONE. 

Anna Stone, long known in the musical world as the dis¬ 
tinguished singer, was the daughter of Joshua Stone and Ruth 
Shaw Sumner. Her father was engaged with Lewis and Alpheus 
Babcock in the piano business, from its first start in Milton. 
Her mother was the daughter of David Sumner, who lived in 
Canton avenue, in the west part of the town. She was brought 
up and nurtured in the very atmosphere of music. For thirteen 


NOTED MEN AND WOMEN. 


551 


years her mother, also a noted singer, was engaged at Dr. Chan- 
ning’s church, in Boston, while her father was organist at the 
same church. From such a parentage, and with such surround¬ 
ings, the child inherited a taste for music, and grew up a natural 
singer. When only two years old she surprised her parents and 
friends by her opening powers of voice and melody. This con¬ 
tinued to develop in the progress of years under constant cult¬ 
ure, until the rich and fully-matured voice charmed the musical 
gatherings, twenty, thirty, and forty years ago. 

For a score of years she sang with the Handel and Haydn 
Society. She was the leading singer at the Trinity Church, 
gratefully remembered by many worshippers there. The citi¬ 
zens of Milton, who have in former years enjoyed her musical 
powers, are glad to recognize her connection by parentage with 
this town. 


REV. EBEHEZER TUCKER. 

He was the son of Ebenezer and Mary Tucker; born in Milton, 
1763; graduated at Harvard College, 1783; and died at the home 
of his son-in-law, Timothy Tucker, Jan. 14,1848, aged eighty-five 
years. He was buried in Heath. .He was a minister in Gerry, 
now Phillipston, till his failing health obliged him to relinquish 
his profession. After residing elsewhere for nearly sixty years 
he returned to his native place to spend his last days with his 
daughter. 


REV. ELIJAH W. TUCKER. 

He was the son of Atherton and Joanne Tucker; horn in 
Dorchester. When ten years of age his father moved to 
Milton, to the house of his brother, now owned by John Welch, 
near Bobbins street. He learned of his brother William the 
trade of a chaise-maker, but soon decided to devote himself to 
the ministry, with the foreign mission work in view. He gradu¬ 
ated at Brown University, studied theology at Andover, and 
was ordained at New Market, N.H. From there he went to 
Chatham, on the Cape, and then to Northfield, Conn., where 
he died in August, 1866. 

REV. JOSIAH TUCKER. 

He was born in Milton, June 4, 1791, and. was the son of 
Samuel Tucker the third, and descendant, in the sixth gener¬ 
ation, from Robert Tucker, of Weymouth, 1639, and Milton, 
1662. He married Esther Wadsworth, of Milton. He entered 


552 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


the Theological Seminary at Andover at the age of twenty- 
eight, and on the completion of his studies, in the service of 
the Maine Missionary Society, he commenced preaching in the 
town of Madison. Here, by persistent and self-denying labor, 
he succeeded in establishing a church, over which he was settled 
as pastor May 10, 1826. He remained at Madison about 
sixteen years, and then removed to Bingham. Subsequently 
he labored in North Orange, Mass., where he formed a church 
and became its pastor. In 1844 he resumed his chosen mission¬ 
ary work in Maine, and continued in this work until his mental 
powers began to fail. 

In 1852 he removed with his family to Taunton, Mass., where 
he died Sept. 9, 1856. 

He was of a sanguine, ardent temperament, full of love and 
zeal, and eminently successful in the fields of labor which he 
occupied. 

It was the original purpose and the sanguine hope of Mr. 
Tucker to become a missionary to the Sandwich Islands; 
circumstances afterwards caused him to change his purpose. 
One of his sons is now established as physician at Honolulu. 


HON. ROGER VOSE. 

He was the son of Robert Yose, of Milton; born in 1763. 
He graduated at Harvard College in 1790, in the class with 
Josiah Quincy. He applied himself to the study of law, and 
attained distinction at the bar. His professional life was 
passed at Walpole, N.H., where he died, in 1841, aged seventy- 
eight years. He was a member of the national Congress from 
his district in New Hampshire for two terms. 


MRS. A. D. T. WHITNEY. 

In order to place on our Milton annals a truthful sketch of 
the life and works of our most respected and honored friend 
and authoress, Mrs. Whitney, a note of inquiry was addressed 
to her, which, by good fortune, secured from her graceful pen 
the following bit of autobiography, here inserted without 
change:— 

Wilton, N.H., October 15, 1886. 

Dear Dr. Teele, — My daughter has just written me that several weeks 
ago you gave her a message for me, requesting some outline of my Milton 
life. As this includes all my mature years, and my work in them, I sup¬ 
pose I am fairly a Miltonian, though born and educated in Boston. 



NOTED MEN AND WOMEN. 


558 


I certainly feel honored by your intent to mention me in your Milton 
Annals; but as my history is simply that of my book-writing, and the man¬ 
agement of my household, the materials are easily summed up in such few 
details as have already appeared in certain biographical and literary dic¬ 
tionaries. 

I came to Milton as the wife of Mr. Whitney, in 1843, being then nine¬ 
teen years old. Within the year previous my father, Mr. Enoch Train, had 
built a house in Dorchester for a summer home, but which became, eventu¬ 
ally, his permanent residence. An illness which he suffered in the earlier 
part of the first winter, that of 42-3, kept us out of town, and brought us 
more fully into the neighboring society, of which the result was my 
acquaintance with the Whitney family, and my marriage the next Novem¬ 
ber. In the first year of our marriage Mr. Whitney built the house now 
occupied by Mr. Samuel Gannett, at the junction of Canton and Randolph 
avenues, and my father fitted it up for our home. We lived there seventeen 
years, and our four children, of whom one died in infancy, were born there. 
In 1860 Mr. Whitney bought the house we now live in from Mr. Charles 
Barnard, and had it removed from the head of Vose’s lane, to where it now 
stands, on Canton avenue. When it was ready for occupancy we decided 
to use it for ourselves, and so came to Milton Centre, which has been our 
home for twenty-five years, although for long times together we have been 
absent, since our children married and went elsewhere. 

All my book-work, except the first little venture, in publication of 
“ Mother Goose for Grown Folks,” has been done at what we call “ Elm 
Corner,” or since we came here; and here have centred all my busiest and 
most absorbing cares and interests. I sometimes say that my life has had 
two distinct periods or histories, that with my family of children, and that 
with my family of books ; but they are pretty well mingled, and identical, 
after all. 

I did not give my time to book-making until my youngest child was 
about eight years old; and then I came into it gradually, led by circum¬ 
stances, and the encouragement received. After “Mother Goose” came 
out, I was urged by my publisher to write a story, and “ Boys of Chequas- 
set” followed; a six weeks’ chronicle, based on what my own boy furnished 
me with, in his first pursuit of ornithology, in the collecting and study of 
birds’ eggs. Then, at further solicitation, I wrote “Faith Gartney, ’ and 
found myself fairly embarked. The “Gayworthys” came next, and was 
published, and well received in England, where all my subsequent books 
have likewise been brought out, simultaneously with their issue in this 
country. I should except in this statement the smaller volumes of poems, 
etc., “ A Summer in Leslie Goldthwaite’s Life” ; “ Patience Strong’s Out¬ 
ings ” ; “We Girls ” ; “ Hitherto ” ; “Real Folks ”; “ Other Girls ” ; 
“ Sights and Insights ” ; “ Odd or Even ” ; “ Bonnyborough ” ; with “ Pan¬ 
sies,” a volume of verse; “ Just How,” a key to the cook book; “ Home- 
spun Yarns”; and “Holy Tides,” a volume of religious poems for the 
seven seasons of the Christian year, complete the list, I believe, as it now 
stands. I have in press another little book of verse, “Daffodils,” a com¬ 
panion and supplement to “ Pansies.” 

I do not know whether these details are precisely what you want, but I 
have stated them in their order, that you may make any reference you 
please with due understanding. More personal matters, as you are not 
writing biographies, you do not want. 

I am, with most cordial esteem and regard, 

Yours truly, 

Adeline D. T. Whitney. 


554 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


MOSES WHITNEY. 

Moses Whitney was born in Spring street, West Roxbury, on 
the 20th of January, 1775. He was the youngest of the six 
children of Jacob Whitney and Rachel Whiting, daughter of 
Nathaniel Whiting, of the same place. In 1787 he went to 
Blue Hill, Milton, to learn the leather business. He married, 
April 14, 1797, Miss Rebecca Dunbar, of Milton; and, second, 
about 1825, Mrs. Mary Kittredge, widow of Dr. Thomas Kit- 
tredue, of Gloucester ; she outlived him several years, dyinff in 
Milton, 1865. 

He commenced business in 1796, moved to Dorchester in 
1797, and removed to Milton in 1805. He purchased the 
“ Rising Sun ” estate in 1806, and the Nancy Paine estate in 
1809, extending from the Old Plymouth road to the Neponset 
river. He enlarged the wharf and built a tan-house in 1810. 
In 1819 he built the Whitney house, on Milton Hill, and pur¬ 
chased Swift’s wharf, at the same time in part filling up the 
dock between the wharves. After this the lumber and wool 
business was carried on extensively by him for twenty years. 
He was in active business for sixty-three years, not including 
his apprenticeship. He was appointed postmaster in Milton, 
1805, resigned, 1816; captain of militia, 1816; colonel, 1821. 
He was afterwards brigadier-general of first brigade, first divi¬ 
sion, Massachusetts militia. He died in his house, on Milton 
Hill, Dec. 23, 1859; on the 20th of the following January he 
would have been eighty-five years old. 


EARLY FAMILIES. 

ADAMS FAMILY. 

Henry Adams, the ancestor of a numerous family in this 
country, came to Mt. Wollaston, now Quincy, but originally a 
part of Boston. He was accompanied to New England by 
eight sons: Henry (born 1604), Samuel, Thomas, Peter, Edward, 
Jonathan, John, and Joseph (born 1626). Edward, Jonathan, 
Peter, and Henry settled in Medfield, Mass. Samuel and 
another brother went to Chelmsford, and one returned to Eng¬ 
land. Joseph remained at Braintree. 

From Joseph, the youngest son of Henry Adams, senior, 
sprang Samuel Adams, the distinguished patriot of revolution¬ 
ary times; also, President John Adams, President John Quincy 
Adams, and their distinguished posterity. 



EARLY FAMILIES. 


555 


From Edward, the fifth son of Henry Adams, senior, sprang 
the early Adams family of Milton. 

Edward Adams emigrated to New England with his father 
and brothers. He was born in England in 1620. He was an 
ensign in the early wars, and died in 1705; his wife, Lydia, 
died in 1706. Edward and Lydia had the following children: — 


1. Lydia, b. July 12, 1653. 

2. Jonathan, b. April 4, 1655. 

3. John, b. Feb. 8, 1657. 

4. Eliashab, b. Feb. 18, 1659. 

5. Sarah, b. March 29, 1660. 

6. James, b. Jan. 4, 1662. 

7. Henry, b. Oct. 29, 1663. 


8. Mehitable, b. March 20, 1665. 

9. Elisha, b. Aug. 25, 1666. 

10. Edward, b. June 28, 1668. 

11. Bethia, b. April 12, 1671. Died. 

12. Bethia, b. Aug. 18, 1672. 

13. Abigail, b. June 26, 1674. 

14. Miriam, b. Feb. 26, 1675. 


John Adams, the second son of Edward, was born in Brain¬ 
tree Feb. 8, 1657. He removed to, and settled as a farmer in, 
Medfield. He had the following children: — 


1 . 

Thomas. 

4. 

Abraham. 

7. 

Eleazer. 

2. 

Jeremiah. 

5. 

John. 

8. 

Daniel. 

3. 

Phineas. 

6. 

Edward, b. 1683. 

9. 

Obediah. 


Edward, the sixth son of John Adams, was born in Medfield 
in 1688; he removed to Milton, and married Rachel Saunders, 
of Braintree, Sept. 11, 1706; his wife, Rachel, died Nov. 14, 
1727, and he married Sarah Brackett Feb. 5, 1729. Children 
of Edward and Rachel Adams : — 


1. Edward, died in infancy. 

2. John, b. Feb. 26, 1709. 

3. Rachel, b. June 17, 1711. 

4. Seth, b. Sept. 30,1713. 

5. Nathan, b. March 28, 1716. 


6. Samuel, b. March 5,1718 ; d. April 

10, 1718. 

7. Patience, b. Aug. 7, 1720 ; d. Aug. 

20, 1720. 


John, the second son of Edward and Rachel Adams, was born 
in Milton Feb. 26, 1709, and married Sarah Swift May 18, 
1730. She was the daughter of Col. Samuel Swift, of Milton. 
Their children were : — 


Samuel, b. Jan. 26, 1731; d. 

Feb. 18, 1731. 

Rachel, b. Feb. 18, 1732. 


-tt.uure w, > 

Anna, b. May 20, 1737. 
Seth, b. Dec. 3, 1740. 


Eliphalet, b. Feb. 23, 1743; d. 

Feb. 5, 1748. 

Judith, b. Nov. 24, 1746. 
Lemuel, b. Dec. 1, 1748. 

Sarah, b. March 31,1752 ; d. Jan. 
26, 1766. 

Mary, b. Dec. 21, 1753. 


1 Andrew, the fourth child of John, married Ruth Wadsworth, of Milton, and settled, 
first, in Milton, and then in Pelham, N.H. 

“In Lancaster, N.H., 14th April, 1833, died Andrew Adams, Esq., aged 98 years; 
an officer of the Revolution; formerly of Milton, Mass. Mr. Adams held a commission 
under George III., dated 1761, Coroner for the County of Suffolk in our Province of 
Massachusetts Bay.” — Norfolk Advertiser, May 4, 1833. 



556 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Lemuel, the ninth child of John and Sarah Adams, was born 
in Milton Dec. 1, 1748, and married Hannah White, of Wey¬ 
mouth, June 6, 1776. He was deacon of the Milton Church, 
and lived through his whole life in the house built and occupied 
by his grandfather, Edward, and his father, John, and died 
there Dec. 8, 1833, aged eighty-five years. In his will the 
homestead in Milton was devised to his son Charles. His wife, 
Hannah, died in Milton Nov. 1, 1834, aged eighty years. 
Their children were : — 

1. Hannah, b. April 1, 1777; m. E. 

Davenport, of Milton; d. Sept. 

23, 1804. 

2. James, b. Nov. 8, 1778; d. June 

24, 1856. 

3. John, b. Dec. 1, 1780; d. 1854. 

4. Lemuel, b. March 16, 1783; d. 

Jan. 25, 1796. 

Charles Adams, son of Lemuel and Hannah, was born Sept. 
21, 1787, at Milton, in the house occupied by his great-grand¬ 
father, his grandfather, and his father. He married Sarah 
Wheeler, of Thomaston, Me., May 7, 1812, and died Sept. 20, 
1839. He was buried in a new tomb built for him in the Mil- 
ton burial-ground, into which were also removed, at the same 
time, the bodies of his two children, Sarah Ann and Albert. 
His wife, Sarah, died Oct. 16, 1856, aged sixty-nine years and 
seven months. Their children were : —- 

1. Charles Berry Franklin, b. Feb. 11, 1813; d. Sept. 17, 1873. 

2. Sarah Ann, b. Oct. 27, 1814; d. May 21, 1837. 

3. George Washington, b. Feb. 10, 1817. 

4. Albert, b. Aug, 21, 1820, d. July 12, 1821. 

The only male members of this line of the Adams family now 
living in Milton are Edward H. Adams, the son of James, who 
was the eldest son of Lemuel; and Charles H. Adams, nephew 
of Edward H. 

j§ Deacon Samuel Adams, the long-honored and respected citi¬ 
zen of Milton, was also of the lineage of the first Henry Adams 
of Wollaston, but through his son Henry, and John, the son of 
the second Henry, then John, the son of John, and Captain 
Michael, son of the second John, whose son, Dr. Samuel 
Adams, the father of Deacon Samuel, of Milton, was born in. 
Killingly, Conn., Jan. 28, 1745. Deacon Adams was born 
in Ipswich, Mass., March 11, 1791, and died in Milton Jan. 3, 
1879. 


5. Seth, b. Aug. 10, 1784; d. Jan. 

26, 1796. 

6. Charles, b. Sept. 21, 1787; d. 

Sept. 20, 1839. 

7. Jonathan, b. Jan. 30, 1790. 

8. Seth, b. Nov. 3, 1798. 


EARLY FAMILIES . 


557 


BLAKE FAMILY. 

William Blake, the son of Giles and Dorothy (Twedy) Blake, 
of Little Baddow, Essex, England, emigrated to America in 
1630, with his wife Agnes and five children,—four sons and one 
daughter. They came in the ship “ Mary and John,” Captain 
Squeb, arriving at Nantasket May 80, 1630, and with the com¬ 
pany settled in Dorchester. 

Their children were : — 

William, b. 1620 ; d. in Milton, 1703. 

James, b. 1623; m. Elizabeth Clap. 

Edward, b. about 1625 ; died in Milton, 1692. 

John, b.-; died in Boston, 1688. 

An n, b.-; m. Jacob Legare, of Boston. 

By the allotment of the territory belonging to Dorchester 
south of the Neponset, called the Sixth Division, in 1660, 
William Blake, Sr., became the proprietor of Lot No. 43, and 
William Blake, Jr., of Lot No. 20, the latter reaching from Can¬ 
ton avenue over Brush Hill to the river. Soon after incorpora¬ 
tion, and perhaps before, William Blake, Jr., became a resident 
of the town. “Sergeant Blake,” supposed to be the said 
William, Jr., was one of the first board of selectmen in 1668; 
he filled the same office in 1671 and 1690. He was Milton’s 
deputy to the “Great and General Court” in 1680, 1683, 1690, 
and 1697. He was evidently an active and useful citizen through 
the first forty years of the town’s existence, dying here in 1703. 

ABSTKACT OF THE WILL OF WILLIAM BLAKE OF MILTON. 

My wife to have the use of the Chamber in the new End of my house so 
long as she continues my Widow & dwell in the same and no longer, she 
shall not sett or hire out’the same. Also to have the wood that grows upon 
one acre of Land between George Lyons and Deacon Sumner’s at the upper 
end of the Lott next the plaine. I give unto my son Samuel Blake a piece 
of land about One hundred acres, more or less, lying in Dorchester, near 
the house of Eben r Billings. I give unto my two sons Nathaniel Blake and 
Edward Blake all Lands whatever in Milton or Dorchester, (except the 100 
acres above,) and all my movables within doors and without, also Nathaniel 
& Edward to be Executors, & they shall pay unto my Doughters, in good 
pay, to my Dau. Ann Gilbert Five & twenty pounds—to Mary Willis Twenty 
five pounds—to Experience Carter Fifteen pounds — and to Mehettable 
Briggs Twenty pounds. 

The children mentioned in the above will are found in the 
Dorchester Record of Births, except Mehettable, who was born 
after Milton was set off from Dorchester. 

Edward Blake, the third son of William and Agnes, is first 


558 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


mentioned in the Dorchester Records in 1652, credited with “ a 
load of wood for ould Barthol.” In 1656 he was appointed a 
fence-viewer. Widow Jane Pope calls him her son-in-law in 
her will bequeathing property to her daughter, Patience Blake 
(plainly his wife), and to her three children, Mary, Sarah, and 
Jane. After administering on the will of his mother-in-law, he 
removed to Boston, where we find him admitted an inhabitant 
“ the 27 of the 2d month 1657,” his brother John going the bond 
required in the case. Henceforward the births of his children 
are recorded in Boston. * 

Jane, of Edward and Patience Blake, b. Sept. 29, 1658. 

Susanna, “ “ “ b. July 21, 1661. 

Abigail, “ “ “ b. ISTov. 10, 1663. 

Edward, “ “ “ b. Oct. 16, 1666. 

Mercy, “ “ “ b. March 26, 1670. 

The Boston Records show him to be a cooper, and in 1670 
licensed “ to keep hous of publique entertainment.” The Dor¬ 
chester Church Records then furnish the following brief com¬ 
mentary on his family history in the list of baptisms: — 

Jonathan, son of Edward Blake 7:5:72, his father being formerly a 
member of this church, and after joyned to y e second church in Boston & 
now dwelling in Melton. 

The Dorchester Death Records also contain one item: — 

Edward the son of Edward Blake died September 30th 1676. 

Two years later Edward Blake was one of the seven brethren 
who united in forming the Milton Church. 

His will, dated August 31, 1692, speaks of his eldest son, 
Jonathan, “who hath been a long time lame;” his son Solo¬ 
mon, born in Milton ; five daughters, “ Mary Picher,” “ Sarah 
Talley,” “Jane Kelton,” “Susanna Wales,” and “Abigail 
Blake ; ” also his two sons-in-law, Richard Talley and Nathaniel 
Wales, whom he appointed his executors. 

Some years later the Suffolk files show us a deed, dated Dec. 
6, 1720, which traces two of these children: — 

Jonathan Blake cordwainer, and Solomon Blake cooper of Boston, with 
their wives Elizabeth and Abigail convey lands inherited from their grand¬ 
father William Blake late of Dorchester deceased. 

We are thus able to identify the personnel of the following 
item in Boston Records : — 


EARLY FAMILIES. 


559 


Jonathan Blake and Elizabeth Candage were married by Mr. Cotton 
Mather Feb. 16, 1699. 

Edward Blake became a citizen of Milton before 1672, and 
was contemporary with his brother William. He died in 
Milton, 1692. We find him on the Board of Selectmen in 1678. 
In the formation of the Milton Church, April 24,1678, he united 
from the Second Church of Boston, and William from the 
Church of Dorchester. These two brothers were co-workers in 
the town and church two hundred years ago, and through the 
last quarter of the seventeenth century. Peter Thacher found 
them earnest workers and noble Christian men, always ready to 
support him in his great work. He refers to them many times 
in his journal. 

June 28, 1680. This morning Goodman Tucker the two Blakes, Mr. 
Holman Goodman Sumner Tho s Swift and another of the church came to 
give me thanks for my labors and to request me to settle amongst them. 

September 11 th Mr Lawthrope came thither to see us this morning, we 
came to the ministerial house, the two Blakes lodged there all night to 
secure the goods, divers hands came to help us. 

Nov 5 1683. We chose William Blake Deputy. 

The homestead of the Blakes was on the north side of Brush 
Hill Road, north-east of the estate of Deacon Amariah and 
Nathan Tucker, standing higher on the hill, near the house of 
Mr. White. The house of Edward Blake, afterwards occupied 
by Ziba, disappeared many years ago. The family was repre¬ 
sented here for nearly a hundred and fifty years, and held real 
estate in almost every section of the town. Ziba Blake was 
collector of the town in 1778. Amariah was town-clerk, 1768-- 
85; town-treasurer, 1775; and collector, 1779. He died May 
19, 1792, aged sixty years. 

CLAPP FAMILY. 

In the year 1680 Roger Clapp came from England in the ship 
“ Mary and John,” and settled in Dorchester. He was a man 
of great energy of character and rare ability. For sixty years 
he was almost constantly engaged in the civil, military, and 
ecclesiastical matters of his town and of the province. In 
1635 he was followed by his elder brother Edward and his 
cousins Nicholas and Thomas, who also settled in Dorchester. 
Thomas removed to Scituate, and was the progenitor of the 
Clapp family in that town. 

Edward Clapp was selectman in Dorchester for many years, 
and also deacon of the church for more than a quarter of a 


560 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


century. In the church records is the following notice of his 
death: — 


The 8th day of the 11th mo. 1664 being the Sabbath day Deacon Edward 
Clapp departed this life and now resteth with the Lord, there to spend an 
eternal Sabbath with God and Christ in Heaven after that he had faithfully 
served in the office of a Deacon for the space of about five or six and twenty 
years. 

Edward Clapp owned land in Milton, which at his decease de¬ 
scended to his eldest son, Ezra. Ezra Clapp was born May 22, 
1640; he removed to Milton as early as 1667, and married 
Abigail Pond, of this town. He lived in the Pond house, which 
was next to the house of Rev. Peter Thacher, and thus he be¬ 
came the true and loving neighbor and friend of his pastor. 
About 1712 he erected a corn-mill on the Neponset at Matta- 
pan. By his first wife he had seven children. Mary married 
Nathaniel Pitcher of Milton, and lived in the old Academy 
house. Edward went to Canada in the disastrous expedition 
of Sir William Phipps, and never returned. There was no 
knowledge of his fate. Twenty-seven years later his father 
left by will a portion of his estate to his son Edward, “ if he 
ever returned.” Ezra died in Dorchester. Abigail married 
Mr. King. Sarah married John Yose, of Milton. Judith 
married Joseph Tucker. Elizabeth married John Rice, Jr., 
of Sudbury. Abigail, wife of Ezra, died Oct. 12, 1682. He 
married again, May 22, 1684, Experience Houghton, and had 
seven children. William died young; Jane married Eben¬ 
ezer Tucker; Nehemiah, Ezra, Ebenezer; Hester married 
James Endicott, of Dorchester; Susanna married George Sum¬ 
ner, of Milton. 

Ezra Clapp, of Milton, died Jan. 23, 1717. Nehemiah seems 
to have been the only son of Ezra, who passed his life in Milton. 
He married Lydia Tucker, of Milton, Aug. 16, 1716. He was 
for many years deacon of the Milton Church, and died July 
18, 1748. His children were, 1st, Hannah, who married 
Stephen Badlam; 2d, Stephen, b. April 17, 1724, m. Mary 

-; he lived in Milton and died here; 3d, Nehemiah, — he 

had two sons who died in early life, and a daughter, who mar¬ 
ried Ebenezer Swift; also a son Joseph, born June 7, 1726. 
Nehemiah was deacon of the Milton Church, and resided here 
till about fifty-five years of age, when he removed to Sterling. 
When in Milton he occupied the house on Brook Road now 
owned by J. H. Dudley, Jr. He died Jan. 30, 1799, aged 
seventy-three years. Nehemiah had nine children. 



EARLY FAMILIES. 


561 


Rachel married Stephen Babcock, of Milton; Nehemiah married Jerusha 
Yose, of Milton, and removed with his father to Sterling; Joseph, Catherine, 
Abigail, Jerusha, Lydia, Stephen. 

The family of Edward is now extinct in Milton, in the male 
line, as also, it is believed, in Dorchester, and almost so else¬ 
where. 

CREHORE FAMILY. 

Teagne Crehore, the earliest known person who bore this 
name, appeared in Milton or Dorchester, it is stated, some time 
during the decade of 1640-50. 

Family tradition affirms that he was a “ mere child at the 
time,” and had been “ stolen from his parents in Ireland.” 
The name has no correspondence, orthographically, with any 
Irish name ; but, phonetically, the old-fashioned pronunciation, 
aspirating the “ h ” and placing the accent on the last syllable, 
corresponds closely with that of the Irish surname Krehan or 
Krahan. A recently adopted pronunciation, the reverse of the 
old, corresponds with Creagh. 

The earliest documentary evidence relating to Teague Crehore 
seems to be an unrecorded deed from John Gill to him of a 
piece of salt marsh, December, 1660. In 1670 he sold to 
Robert Badcock a piece of land near Paul’s bridge, described as 
purchased by him from John Smith. His deed to Badcock is 
upon record, Suffolk Records, Lib. 7, fol. 281. This land was 
near Paul’s bridge. He married — probably about 1665 — 
Mary, said to have been the daughter of Robert Spurr, of 
Dorchester. His death is recorded in Milton Records, Jan. 3, 
1695, aged fifty-five years. His widow administered, and the 
inventory, etc., are found in Suffolk Probate Records, Lib. 10, 
fol. 723. She married subsequently, May 14, 1697, Matthias 
Puffer, of Stoughton. 

Teague left five living children: Timothy, the ancestor, 
probably, of all bearing the name, born Oct. 18, 1666, who 
married, Feb. 10, 1688, Ruth Riol (Ryall?), of Dorchester. 
He died Aug. 15, 1739, and his headstone is in the Crehore lot, 
Milton Cemetery. Another son, Benjamin, also survived 
Teague; but there is no record of his having married. Three 
daughters, Ann, Rebecca, and Mary, married respectively 
Ebenezer Maxwell, of Bristol, Robert Pelton, of Dorchester, 
and Henry Glover, of Bristol. In 1714 the four last named 
united in a conveyance of their share of the paternal estate to 
their brother Timothy. (Suff. Rec., Book 29, fol. 186.) 

Timothy, to judge from the records, added considerably to 
the paternal estate. He had a numerous family, ten in all, 


562 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


only two of whom seemed to have continued the name, — 
Timothy, 3d, and John. The latter, who bore the title of 
“ Captain,” was the head of a single line of males, all bearing 
the same name, who lived upon a portion of the paternal 
estate, terminating in the sixth generation (from Teague) with 
the death of John Ames Crehore, who died Jan. 21, 1877, 
leaving no issue. 

Timothy, 3d, “Deacon Timothy,” like his father, was the 
ancestor of all now bearing the name of Crehore. _ He 
was born Dec. 3, 1689; married, Dec. 24, 1712, Mary Driscoll, 
of Dorchester; and died Dec. 26, 1755. He lived as a farmer 
upon a portion of his father’s property bordering the river, 
near Paul’s bridge, and is buried in Milton Cemetery. He 
had three daughters, two of whom died young; the other, 
Hepsibah, with his sons, Jedediah and William, inherited his 
property, and the deed of partition — tripartite — is still in 
possession of the family. 

Jedediah remained on the estate, which came into the hands 
of his third son, John Shepard, whose sons, Charles C. and 
Jeremiah, occupied it as late as 1844. The house now owned 
by Mr. Lyman Davenport, the one by Mrs. Green, and the next, 
adjoining the Bent property, are all of them situated upon this 
estate. 

William also had a number of descendants, one of whom, 
Mr. Thomas Crehore, lived in Milton, and was a well-known 
citizen. 

There are now, it is believed, none bearing the name who 
are residents of the town. 

DAVENPORT FAMILY. 

John Davenport, whose father, Thomas, was the first in this 
line of the family in New England, was born in Dorchester, 
Oct. 2, 1664, and died in Milton March 21, 1725. He came to 
Milton in 1706, purchasing land in the westerly part of the town, 
on the south side of Canton avenue, now embraced in the Hem- 
menway estate; there he built a house, which was occupied by 
his descendants for several generations. 

His son Stephen was born Oct. 8, 1703; published to Thank¬ 
ful Bent, of Stoughton, Nov. 10,1734, and died in Milton March 
2, 1784. 

His children were : — 

William, b. Aug. 11, 1736 ; cl. July 9, 1738. 

Hannah, b. April 4, 1739; d. May 28, 1752. 

Thomas, b. Dec. 27, 1742 ; died the day of his birth. 



EARLY FAMILIES. 


563 


William, b. July 28, 1744; pub. to Avis Stone, March 17, 1780. 

Lydia, b. April 17, 1747; pub. to John Bradley, Oct. 14, 1769. 

Mary, b. Oct. 9, 1750; pub. to Eben Glover May, 14, 1785. 

Joseph, b. Nov. 16, 1753. 

Benjamin, b. Nov. 1, 1758. 

William Davenport was for a long time schoolmaster in 
Milton. He used to be called Master Willie. He was highly 
successful in his profession, and was much respected. 

His children were : — 

Hannah, b. Feb. 21, 1781; m. Phinehas Davenport, May 23, 1802. 

Enoch, b. Aug. 30, 1782; d. Nov. 26, 1783. 

Francis, b. Sept. 12, 1784; pub. to Abigail Whiting, March 30, 1810. 

Lydia, b. Nov. 4, 1786. 

William, b. Aug. 12, 1789; pub. to Sally Shaller, May 19, 1827. 

Sarah, b. Aug. 5, 1792. 

Francis Davenport was an active and useful citizen. He 
represented the town of Milton at the General Court for three 
years, 1826-28. 

The children of Francis and Abigail Davenport were : — 

Charles F., b. July 18,1812 ; pub. to Abigail T. Wentworth, Feb. 6, 1836. 

Joseph, b. March 9, 1819. 

William R., b. April 26, 1825. 

Hannah E., b. Dec. 12, 1827. 

Joseph, died unmarried. 

The other three children removed to Taunton. 

Ann Elizabeth Davenport, born June 14, 1829, the daughter 
of William and Sally Davenport, is now residing in Milton. 

Samuel Davenport, son of John, and elder brother of Stephen, 
was born Oct. 20, 1697, married Rebecca Holbrook, of Milton, 
and lived on the estate of his father; five of his children 
were born here. When his eldest son, Samuel, Jr., became of 
age he gave him the homestead, and removed with the other 
children to Mendon. 

Samuel Davenport, Jr., was, born in Milton Sept. 1,1720, and 
died here Dec. 6, 1793. He was a silversmith by trade, and 
carried on his business partly in Milton. He was on the jury 
that tried Captain Preston, in the case of the Boston Massacre, 
Nov. 27, 1770. 

All his children w T ere born here : — 

Lemuel, b. March 10, 1742. 

Sarah, b. July 29, 1744; m., 1761, John Crehore. 

Nathaniel, b. April 13, 1747. 

Abigail, b. Aug 16, 1749; m., July 6, 1769, Lemuel Gay. 


564 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Rufus, b. Jan. 19, 1752; d. April 12, 1752. 

Isaac, b. Nov. 12, 1753. 

Meliitable, b. April 14,1759; m., Sept. 1777, John Yose, of Milton. 

Nathaniel Davenport, the third child of Samuel, married Lydia 
Stone, February, 1767 ; he died in Milton June 13, 1813. 

He was a butcher, and occupied a stall in Boston. 

His children were: — 

Samuel, b. April 9, 1769 ; died young. 

Phinehas, b. March 9, 1772. 

Avis, b.-; died young. 

Avis, b. May 3, 1779 ; m., Dec., 1794, Dr. Benjamin Turner, of Milton. 

Nathaniel, b. March 7, 1781. 

Isaac Davenport, the sixth child of Samuel, and brother of 
Nathaniel, died in Milton April 20, 1828. He married Mary, 
daughter of Samuel May, of Boston. She died Nov. 20, 1853. 

Their children were : — 

Mary, b. Dec. 21, 1795; m., Oct. 24, 1816, Joseph H. Heywood; she 
died July 30, 1843. 

Louisa Goddard, b. Feb. 7, 1808; m., Dec. 7,1841, Dr. Samuel Wiggles- 
worth. She died July 17, 1859. 

Much might be said of this enterprising citizen and his family. 
For many years he was a merchant in Boston, in partnership 
with John McLean. Dr. Morrison says: —■ 

He left but two children, both daughters. Louisa was much younger 
than her sister, and usually spent her winters in Boston. But her earliest 
associations bound her to Milton, where every knoll and stream and tree 
was dear to her. She loved the place for its own sake and for her father’s 
sake. She was a liberal benefactor to the church. She knew something 
about all the old Milton families, and kept up her interest in them as long 
as she lived. 

Her eyesight failed, and she passed the last fifteen years of 
her life in darkness. But nothing could quench the light and joy 
of her soul. She continued to bear every burden meekly and 
cheerfully, and to shed brightness over the pathway of all her 
friends, until the effulgence of heavenly light opened upon her 
spiritual vision. 

Phinehas Davenport, the second son of Nathaniel, was born in 
Milton March 9,1772, and died here Jan. 31,1840. He married, 
May 23,1802, Hannah Davenport, daughter of William, a school¬ 
master and store-keeper of Milton. 

Their children were : — 



EARLY FAMILIES. 


565 


Sarah, b. Sept. 9, 1802; d. March 7, 1838. 

Francis William, b. Feb. 16, 1804; d. Feb. 4, 1857; he married, Jan. 
24, 1837j Betsy, daughter of the Hon. John Ruggles, of Milton. 


Phinehas Davenport was an excellent citizen, greatly beloved 
by the entire community. In the early part of the present century 
there were four noble men residing in the West District, who 
seemed to give character to that section of the town : Phinehas 
Davenport, John Crehore, William Crehore, and John Ruggles. 
They were men of good judgment and of excellent spirit, 
and always enjoyed, in an uncommon degree, the confidence of 
their fellow-citizens. 

Nathaniel Davenport, the youngest son of Nathaniel, and 
brother of Phinehas, was born in Milton March 7, 1781, and 
died May 5, 1863. He married, Jan. 1, 1801, Nancy Daven¬ 
port, daughter of Jesse. She died March 1, 1865. He was for 
a time a student at Phillips Academy, Andover. 

His children were : — 


Nancy, b. March 31, 1801; m., Jan. 11, 1821, Jason W. Houghton, of 
Milton. 

George, b. Feb. 3, 1805; m., Nov. 31, 1828, Harriet C. Davenport, dau. 
of Elijah. 

Lewis, b. Sept. 25, 1808; m., Dec. 9, 1834, Margaret L. Babcock, of 
Milton. 


Nathaniel T., b. Jan. 8, 1811; m., Jan. 29, 1834, Sarah Dunbar, of 
Milton. 

Lj dia, b. Feb. 22, 1814; m., July 20, 1837, James Breck, of Milton. 
Henry Seth, b. June 27, 1819 ; unmarried. 

Fred. Jason, b. Jan. 5, 1824; m., Oct. 26, 1845, Hannah M. Cutting. 

” ’ ard, 'j f m., Sept. 27, 1855, Sarah M. 

\ twins, b. Aug. 21, 1816, J Samson. 


Edward, 

Edwin, 


Feb. 14, 1855, Ellen M. 
J ^ Bennett. 

Lyman, b. June 26, 1829; m., Nov. 29, 1855, Harriet L. Blaney. 


The Davenports have been residents of Milton for nearly two 
centuries, and some of them have always lived on or near the 
land purchased by their ancestor in 1707, a portion of which 
remains in the family. Several families of the original stock 
are still with us; while, by intermarriage, the family is repre¬ 
sented in almost every section of the town. They are chiefly 
engaged in floriculture, in which business they have attained 
great skill and remarkable success. 


HOUGHTON FAMILY. 

Ralph Houghton was born in Lancashire, England, 1623. It 
is said that he was the son of Sir Richard Hoghton, of Hoghton 


566 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Tower, Lancashire, who was created a baronet, by James I., upon 
the institution of the order, May 22, 1611. 

Ralph Houghton came to America on account of his religious 
and political opinions. He had fought under Cromwell against 
Charles I., though he had been previously knighted by the king 
for service to his person. He landed at Charlestown between 
1645 and 1647. Soon after he removed to Lancaster, Mass., and 
with twenty-four others founded that town in 1653. He was 
chosen the first town recorder, and one of the six prudential 
managers. He was representative of the town, 1673, and again 
in 1689, and held various other offices. 

Lancaster having been destroyed by the Indians in 1675, Mr. 
Houghton removed to Woburn, Mass., and in 1682 to Milton, 
Mass. He returned to Lancaster three years after, and remained 
there until 1690, when he came again to Milton, and settled at 
“ Scott’s Woods, nigh unto Brush Hill,” building the homestead 
occupied by his descendants for seven generations. He died 
there April 15, 1705, aged eighty-two years. 

Joseph Houghton, son of Ralph, and Jane his wife, was born 
at Lancaster July 6, 1657, and died in the homestead at Milton 
March 22,1737. He married, first, Jane Yose, and, second, Mar¬ 
garet Reding. Ebenezer Houghton, son of Joseph and Jane, 
was born in Milton Aug. 25, 1695 ; he married Sarah Evans 
Sept. 17, 1722, and died here Jan. 24, 1783. In 1722 Joseph 
Houghton conveyed to Ebenezer, his son, a tract of one hundred 
and fifty acres of land, embracing what is now known as Hough¬ 
ton’s farm. Ralph Houghton, son of Ebenezer, was born in Mil- 
ton Feb. 20, 1729, married, first, Ruth Wadsworth Feb. 15, 1759, 
second, Waits till Gulliver Feb. 3,1792. Jason, son of Ralph and 
Ruth, born Aug. 25, 1768, married Caty Wild Dec. 25,1788, and 
died in Milton Sept. 16, 1843. He was a school-master, and was 
known as “Master Houghton.” He taught the Scott’s Woods 
school twenty-eight years. Later in life he was called Deacon 
Jason. He had fourteen children, all born in the “ Houghton 
house.” Jason Wadsworth Houghton, his son, born June 12, 
1793, married Nancy Davenport, of Milton, Jan. 11, 1821, and 
died in Milton Dec. 13, 1867. 

His children are : — 

Sarah Davenport, b. July 21, 1824; m. James Breck Nov. 5, 1846. 

George, b. Feb. 28,1827 ; m. Eiiza T. Bent Jan. 1, 1863. 

Harriet, b. Feb. 18, 1829; m. Samuel T. Bent, Jr., Dec. 10, 1863. 

Lydia Ann, b. July 11, 1834; m. Dr. W. S. Everett Oct. 4, 1865, and 
d. July 16,1869. 

Jason, b. Sept. 8, 1844. 

The Houghton family has been a prominent family in Milton 



EARLY FAMILIES. 


567 


for nearly two centuries. The men have been among the lead¬ 
ing men of the town. 

The first Ralph was selectman for three years, 1682-84. 
Deacon Nathaniel Houghton was selectman ten years, between 
1743 and 1761. Joseph Houghton filled the office in 1771; 
Ralph for seven years, 1775-81; Deacon Jason, for sixteen 
years, between 1795 and 1825; and Jason W. Houghton, for 
five years, 1844-48. 

Ralph Houghton was town-clerk in 1688. Deacon Jason 
was collector for eight years, between 1826 and 1837. Deacon 
Nathaniel was moderator of town meetings for four years ; 
Ralph, for four years ; and Deacon Jason, for eleven years. 

Deacon Jason was a member of the School Committee in 
1839, and representative of the town at the General Court in 
1815 and 1816, and for a second term in 1834 and 1835; and 
Jason Houghton, the youngest child of Jason W. Houghton, 
was on the board of the School Committee for four years, 1874- 
1877. 


FORBES FAMILY. 

John Murray Forbes , Esq. 

He was the son of Rev. John Forbes, a Scotch clergyman, 
rector of St. Augustine, Florida. Rev. Mr. Forbes married 
Dorothy Murray, at Brush Hill, Milton, Feb. 2, 1767. He 
died in England Sept. 17, 1793; his widow died in Milton 
June 11, 1811. 

Their eldest son, Col. James Crrant Forbes , born Nov. 22, 
1769, served as colonel under General Jackson. He was 
once commander at Staten Island ; and was the first marshal 
or governor of St. Augustine when Florida was ceded to the 
United States. 

J. Murray Forbes was born at St. Augustine Aug. 13, 1771. 
He came with his mother to Milton in 1773; was fitted for 
college by Dr. Samuel Kendall, of Weston, and graduated at 
Harvard in 1787. He studied law with John Sprague, of Lan¬ 
caster, and Pliny Merrick, of Brookfield, and entered on his 
profession at Brookfield in 1791. He then removed to Boston, 
and, associated with C. P. Phelps, practised his profession 
through 1794 and 1795. After 1796 he lived mostly abroad. 

In 1801 he received the appointment of consul-general to the 
North of Europe, residing at Hamburg and Copenhagen. In 
1820 he went to Buenos Ayres as secretary of legation to Mr. 
Casar Rodney, who was minister of the Argentine Republic; Mr. 
Rodney died at Buenos Ayres, and Mr. Forbes was made charge 



568 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


d'affaires , and died at Buenos Ayres in 1831. He was never 
married. He was troubled with gout; his crest was composed of 
a gouty foot couchant , crossed by two crutches rampant, and the 
motto was “ Toujours souffrant jamais triste .” 


Ralph Bennet Forbes. 

He was the youngest son of Rev. John and Dorothy (Mur¬ 
ray) Forbes. He was born at Brush Hill, Milton, June 11, 
1773, where his mother resided until she removed to Cambridge 
ten years later, in 1783. When he was eight years old he was 
sent to school at Dr. Parker’s, Hingham. He spent his child¬ 
hood at Brush Hill, Hingham, and Cambridge. At the age of 
fourteen he was bound as an apprentice to John B. Murray, 
in Alexandria, Va., and remained there until his nineteenth 
year, December, 1791, when he accepted an invitation from his 
brother, James Grant Forbes, to join him at Port-au-Prince, St. 
Domingo. He remained in St. Domingo until 1794, and then 
returned home. In the winter of 1795 he arrived at Charleston 
from Portland, Me., in the ship “Rising States,” owned by 
John McLean, William Stephenson, and Loring & Curtis. He 
sailed for Bordeaux in March, where he arrived with a cargo of 
rice and tobacco in April, and from thence proceeded to Ham¬ 
burg with a cargo of brandy, and arrived there in August. He 
left the ship at Dover, and reached London in September, where 
he met Col. Perkins, and was again at Bordeaux in December. 
He married Margaret Perkins, of New York, Oct. 13, 1799, and 
died in Milton Oct. 5, 1824. 

' He was the father of our honored citizens R. B. Forbes and 
John M. Forbes, and of Thomas T. Forbes, who perished in 
China, 1829. 


Robert Bennet Forbes. 

We are indebted partly to the “Christian Register” for the 
following sketch of Robert Bennet Forbes : — 

He was born at Jamaica Plain on the 18th of September, 1804. On the 
17th of January, 1811, his mother, his brother Thomas T., and himself 
embarked at Boston on board the schooner “Midas,” bound for Marseilles, 
to join his father. Off the port the schooner was captured by a British 
frigate, which sent her to Port Mahon. After considerable delay Mrs. 
Forbes and her boys reached France. Here the boys were sent to school. 
The master was as ignorant of English as they were of French ; yet, by the 
use of a French and English dictionary, the boys soon acquired a sufficient 
knowledge of French to pursue their studies. On the 18th of May, 1813, 
Mr. and Mrs. Forbes and their boys embarked at Bordeaux on board the 
American schooner “ Orders in Council,” bound for New York. Shortly 



EARL Y FAMILIES. 


569 


after leaving port she was attacked by a British cutter, which she beat off 
after an hour and a half’s fight, but was captured soon afterward by a 
frigate and sent to Corunna. They embarked in another vessel, and were 
again captured and carried to Lisbon, but finally reached Newport, R.I., in 
the ship “ Leda.” 

At the age of thirteen Robert B. Forbes went to sea before the mast in 
the ship “Canton Packet,” bound for China. When sixteen he was 
third mate; before twenty he was captain ; at twenty-six he owned a ship 
and commanded her; at twenty-eight he left the sea; and at thirty-six 
was at the head of the largest American house in China. His brother, 
Thomas T., was drowned near Macao. He provided liberally for his 
mother and his younger brother, now Hon. John M. Forbes. R. B. Forbes 
went several times to China, and at one time was the American vice-consul 
to Canton. During his seafaring career he traded between China, the 
United States, Europe, California, and South America, and was eminently 
successful on all his voyages. 

In 1847 he commanded the United States sloop of war “ Jamestown,” 
laden with provisions for the starving poor in Ireland, and made the 
voyage from Boston to Cork and back in forty-nine days; and then helped 
to load the frigate “Macedonian” on the same mission of mercy. During 
the war of the rebellion he was employed by the government to inspect the 
building of nine gunboats, and built for himself and others the “ Meteor,” 
of fifteen hundred tons, built to cruise in search of the vessels which were 
preying upon our commerce. In all, he built about seventy sail, and took 
a great interest in everything connected with seamen, so much so that he 
is called the “ Howard of the sea.” He has done much and written much 
about the best means of saving life in case of disaster. In 1882 he pub¬ 
lished his “ Personal Reminiscences,” a 12mo of 412 pages, which is a 
model of condensed writing, and contains much interesting information. 

At the age of thirty he was married to Miss Rose Green Smith, who 
died on the eighty-first anniversary of his birth. He had by her two sons, 
Robert B. and John Murray, and a daughter, now Mrs. Charles Eliot Per¬ 
kins, and another daughter, who died young. 

Several benevolent institutions for seamen and soldiers have had in him 
a liberal supporter. In his long and varied life his feet have ever been 
on the straight and narrow path of virtue, the only path that leads to last¬ 
ing honor. It may be truly said of him that he never lost a friend, or had 
an enemy that he did not try to conciliate. He is almost worshipped by 
the boys of Milton; for he has made for them, with his own hands, over 
one hundred models of sail and row boats. It is pleasing to add, notwith¬ 
standing his advanced age, that he enjoys fair health, that his mind con¬ 
tinues clear and vigorous, and that his heart is as warm as ever for all who 
are in trouble. 


lion. John Murray Forbes. 

He was born at Bordeaux Feb. 23, 1813, and married Sarah 
Swain Hathaway, of New Bedford. Mr. Forbes has lived in 
Milton for more than half a century. He has taken a lively 
and intelligent interest in all the affairs of the town, and has 
proved himself a faithful citizen. 

He is ranked also among the most honest and able asserters 
of loyal and democratic principles not only in our town, but 
in the commonwealth and in the nation. He has twice been 


570 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


presidential elector. He was a member of the “Peace Con¬ 
gress,” so called, in 1861. He was delegate at large to the Cin¬ 
cinnati Republican Convention in 1876, and member for 
Massachusetts of the Republican Convention in 1884. He has 
also taken an active part on many State committees where 
great principles were considered and great interests were at 
stake. 

The following handwriting on the wall appeared in a New 
York print a year ago, giving a just delineation of our hon¬ 
ored citizen’s life as it touches the commonwealth and the 
nation : — 

We believe thei'e is no man in Massachusetts who stands higher in pub¬ 
lic regard and confidence than John M. Forbes. During the last thirty 
years nobody has been readier to serve with purse and person all good 
causes. To no one man in Massachusetts, except Governor Andrew, was 
the government more indebted during the trying days of the war. From 
nobody has the republican party in the State and nation received more 
constant and loyal service in money and counsel. There is no way in 
which he has not proved his devotion to it except by holding salaried 
offices. Moreover, there is probably no wiser or shrewder business head 
than his. He is a man of great wealth, but nobody would suspect it, if it 
were not for the number and amount of his contributions to public interests, 
to charity, to art, to literature, and to science, and what is of more im¬ 
portance, he stands in Massachusetts as the very type and embodiment of 
commercial integrity. He has been until recently a member of the repub¬ 
lican national committee. Well, this veteran republican, so wise, so hon¬ 
ored, so practical, who gave the very flower of his years to the party, is 
now going to vote against it, and gives his reasons. 

William Hathaway Forbes, eldest son of John M. Forbes, 
was lieutenant-colonel of the 2d Massachusetts Cavalry during 
the civil war. Henry Sturges Russell, son-in-law of Mr. Forbes, 
was colonel of the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry, and brigadier- 
general by brevet in the late war. 

HOW FAMILY. 

Abraham How, of England, was made freeman of Dorchester 
May 2,1638. He had leave granted him “ to live in the house 
he built, although more than half a mile from the meeting¬ 
house.” 

He seems to have sons, Israel, Isaac, and Abraham. Isaac 
How, son of Abraham, came to Milton before 1750; probably 
when his son Isaac married Sarah Tucker, of Milton, April 20, 
1744. He built the gambrel-roof house now standing on the 
corner of Centre street and Randolph avenue. His widow, 
Sarah, who, after his decease, married Lazarus Baker, died in 
Milton Sept. 11, 1755. 


EARL Y FAMILIES. 


571 


Isaac How, the son of Isaac, was a leading man in Milton. 
He built the house known as the William Yose house, on 
Churchill’s lane, and was living there at the time of his sudden 
death. He often acted as moderator of the town meetings. He 
was selectman for several years. In the midst of a life of use¬ 
fulness he was drowned in the river Sept. 7, 1769. 

Thursday last a melancholy accident happened in Milton. Mr. Isaac 
How, being at work at the Salt Meadows, went into the water to cool him¬ 
self. It being discovered by two persons who were in sight that he did not 
swim, and his head was under water though a good swimmer, they im¬ 
mediately went to his assistance, and got him out before he sunk to the bottom. 
There was some appearance of life in him, and several methods were taken 
to bring him to, but without effect. It was thought that the sudden chill of 
the water, he being hot, was the cause of his death. He was one of the 
selectmen of Milton, well-esteemed as a kind neighbor, a generous friend 
to the poor and suffering; he has left a sorrowing widow, and is a public 
loss to the town. —Boston Evening Post, Sept. 13, 1769. 

Josiah How, brother of Isaac, and son of Isaac, of Dorchester, 
was born in Dorchester 1719; he married Sarah Preston, of 
Dorchester, in 1743, and soon after came to Milton with his 
father and his brother Isaac. At the decease of his father he 
came into possession of the house on Centre street and Ran¬ 
dolph avenue. 

His children were: — 

Sarah, who married Joseph Yose, of Milton, Dec. 27, 1761. 

Lemuel, b. in Milton, Aug. 5,1744; m. Joanna Richards, of Boston, Oct. 
18, 1766. 

At the time of the marriage of Lemuel, his father built for 
him the house on Centre street, opposite the cemetery, now 
known as the “Hunt house,” which was afterwards sold by 
Josiah and Lemuel to Ziba Blake, and by him conveyed to 
Jeremiah Crane. Lemuel had five children in Milton, and 
subsequently removed to Templeton, Mass. 

Josiah, Isaac, and John, children of Josiah, b. in 1746, ’49, ’52; died in 
early childhood. 

Mary, b. Dec. 25, 1755; m. William Yose, of Milton, Dec. 19, 1772. 

Elizabeth, b. Nov. 23, 1757; m. Rufus Pierce Feb. 18,1775. 

Margaret How, known as “ Peggy How,” was b. Sept. 26, 1760; at the 
decease of her father she came into possession of the How house, and 
for many years kept school there. 

Josiah How was deacon of the Milton Church for many 
years. For fourteen years he was selectman of the town. He 
was town treasurer for six years. He was often chosen 


572 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


moderator of the town meetings. He represented the town 
at the General Court in 1772-3. He was a shoemaker by trade, 
and carried on an extensive business for the times. He pos¬ 
sessed great strength of character, and was looked up to and 
respected by all who knew him. During the Revolution affairs 
presented a gloomy aspect to his mind, and he became despond¬ 
ent and faint-hearted. His sympathies seemed to be on the 
side of the Royalists; we find his name joined with those of 
James Smith and Stephen Miller in the “address to Governor 
Hutchinson.” He died in Milton Oct. 3, 1792, aged seventy- 
three years. 

PIERCE FAMILY. 

William Pierce, 4th, was a leading man of his day. He was 
prominent and active in seeking for and in carrying out the 
best interests of his native town. With many of our citizens 
he took part in the fortification of Dorchester Heights. His 
house stood nearly opposite the East Milton railroad station, a 
little east of the stone-house; it was changed into a store in 
1835, and removed some years later. 

The estate of his father, William, 3d, who married, 1719, 
Deliverance Woodard, of Milton, was on the south side of 
Pleasant street, running towards the Braintree line, and is now 
included partly in the estate of Edward Cunningham ; the old 
cellar and well were near the Cunningham house. William 
Pierce, 4th, married Eunice Bent, only sister of the four 
brothers, — Joseph, Lemuel, William, and Rufus Bent, of Mil- 
ton. His children were Rufus, Deliverance, Abigail, William, 
and four others. William, 5th, married Lydia Swift, of Milton. 
He had five sons and four daughters. Oliver, his fifth son, 
born Jan. 12, 1802, married Susan Babcock, of Milton, May 22, 
1825; and, second, Jan. 15, 1843, Mary Gardner, of Arlington, 
who is now living on Granite avenue, Milton, with her daugh¬ 
ter, Alma G. Pierce, the teacher of the Pleasant-street school. 

William L., son of Oliver, born July 13, 1842, married Emma 
P. Hicks, of Milton, Sept. 15, 1870. 

Capt. Rufus Pierce, the first son of William, 4th, married 
Elizabeth How, of Milton. He built the cottage on Adams 
street, just west of East Milton railroad station. He began 
the cellar in 1775, but after the Lexington fight the work was 
abandoned, and he occupied the mansion of Madam Foye, on 
Milton Hill, which was afterwards the home of his daughter, 
Sarah Pierce Littlefield. Madam Foye, fearing to be so near 
Boston in war times, removed to Randolph; after the war she 
returned to Milton, and Rufus Pierce finished his house, which, 




EARL Y FAMILIES. 


573 


for many years, he kept as a tavern. In this house he lived 
through all his remaining life, and here died in 1812. 

The children of Rufus and Elizabeth How Pierce were: — 

Elizabeth, b. Oct. 19, 1775; m., Nov. 30, 1817, William Briggs, of 
Scituate. 

Lemviel, b. Feb. 9, 1778. 

Sai'ah, b. July 16, 1780; m., March 10, 1803, Samuel Littlefield, of 
Braintree. 

Margaret, b. April 29, 1783; m. Jeremiah T. Fenno. 

Eunice, b. Feb. 24, 1787; m. Daniel Lord, of Ipswich. 

Nancy, b. July 13, 1790; m. Gideon F. Thayer, the eminent teacher and 
founder of Chauncy Hall School. 

Mary, b. Dec. 5, 1795; m. Zypheon Thayer. 

Rufus, b. March 31, 1798. 

Martlja, b. July 16, 1801; m. Abel Wyman, of Wayland. 

The grandchildren of Rufus and Elizabeth How Pierce, now 
resident in Milton, with their families, are : — 

Margaret Fenno Babcock, Mary Fenno Sheldon, Mary Little¬ 
field Dudley, John Littlefield. 

Numerous other descendants are scattered over the State and 
country. 

REED FAMILY. 

This family may be traced back to a very early ancestry. 
Briames De Rede was living in 1189 in the north of England. 
He had three sons: 1st, Robert, of Rede; 2d, William, of 
Chichester; 3d, Thomas, of Redydale. 

William Reade, son of William and Lucy (Henage) Reed, 
was born in 1605, and sailed from Gravesend, County of Kent, 
in the “Assurance,” 1635. He settled in Wassagusset (now 
Weymouth, Mass-L In 1636 he bought a house of Zachary 
Bichnall for £7 13s. 4d., which was an average price for home¬ 
steads at that early day. He was representative for Weymouth 
to the General Court in 1636 and 1638. He had by his wife 
Ivis seven children. Thomas Reed, son of William and Ivis, 
married Sarah. He held offices, both civil and military, and 
died Nov. 14, 1719. 

John, son of Thomas and Sarah, born Dec. 30, 1679; also 
married Sarah. His will was dated 1757. 

John, son of John and Sarah, married Mary Bates Dec. 26, 
1746. He was father of twelve children. 

Noah Reed, son of John and Mary, was born at Weymouth 
Nov. 18, 1759; he married Mehetable Wild, of Milton, July 6, 
1788, whose father kept tavern in the house once owned and 
occupied by C. L. Copeland, and now moved to Randolph 
aYenue, near Pleasant street. 


574 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Mr. Reed was a shoemaker by trade, but, on account of feeble 
health, he came to Milton and bought of Daniel Yose, July 13, 
1795, the homestead formerly owned by Capt. Samuel Wads¬ 
worth. The spot where the old house stood is opposite George 
K. Gannett’s residence, between Randolph avenue and Highland 
street. The original house was burned in 1669. The second 
house built by Captain Wadsworth, and purchased by Noah 
Reed, was taken down about 1803. Its walls were packed with 
seaweed, — a common custom in early times. About 1801 Noah 
Reed bought of Joel Pratt the house built by John Gibbons on 
the corner of Highland and Reed streets, where Mrs. Charlotte 
(Reed) Wadsworth and Miss Rachel Reed now reside. 

Noah Reed’s children were : — 


Betsey, b. in Weymouth, 1789; m. Deacon Jesse Tucker. 

Warren, b. in Weymouth, 1793; m. Mary Howe Wadsworth. 

Avis, b. 1795. 

Charlotte, b. in the old Wadsworth homestead, Milton, 1799 ; m. Jason 
Wadsworth. 

Rachel, b.,'1803, in the Gibbons house, now remodelled and owned by 
her. 

Noah Reed died in Milton Sept. 20, 1836. Warren Reed, 
who married Mary H. Wadsworth, was a farmer. He lived 
several years in the house now occupied by Rachel Reed, and 
then, in 1851, built the house now occupied by his sons John 
H. and William R. Reed, on land descending from the Wads¬ 
worth estate. 


Another Branch of the Reed Family. 

William Reed, springing from the same ancestry, was born in 
Abington Sept. 20, 1725, and married Silence Nash, 1750. His 
second son, William, was born June 8, 1755, and married Olive 
Poole, of Bridgewater, May, 1784; he was a clergyman, and 
died in Easton Nov. 16, 1809. His third son, Jason Reed, born 
in Easton Oct. 14, 1794, married Mary Elizabeth Coats, of Mil- 
ton, May 19, 1824. He graduated at Harvard College 1816, 
and pursued the study of law. He removed to Milton, and 
purchased the estate of Ezra Coats, the father of his wife. He 
held the office of town-clerk of Milton for thirty years, also that 
of town-treasurer from 1857 till his decease, July 13, 1873. 
His estate in Milton was named Redesdale, in memory of the 
old home in England, and a street built in 1884 through this 
estate bears the name of Redesdale road. His daughter, Eliza¬ 
beth T. L. Reed, is the only living representative of his family. 




EARLY FAMILIES. 


575 


James Read. 

James Read, of Boston, purchased a tract of land in Milton, 
lying on Highland street and Canton avenue, and moved here 
about 1765. He built a house, which stood where the Whitwell 
mansion now stands. His third son, Benjamin, was born in 
Milton May 20, 1767, and married Lydia Vose, of Milton, 
March 18, 1787. He was a pump-maker, following the trade 
of his father. 

Thomas Read, the fourth son of James, was born in Milton 
March 1, 1770. He was a hatter, and carried on the business 
on the corner of Highland street and Canton avenue, where 
he also resided. The building disappeared about fifty years 
ago. 

Benjamin Read built the house now standing on Canton 
avenue, directly opposite the Pound, in 1805. His son, Joseph 
Elijah Read, born in Milton May 16, 1802, married Lydia Vose 
Shepherd, of Milton, July 21, 1833. His daughter, Lydia Vose 
Read, born in Milton Jan. 30, 1806, married Stephen Wales, of 
Dorchester, June 5, 1833. 

The house built by Benjamin Read is now owned and occu¬ 
pied by his granddaughters, Mrs. Mary C. R. Sanford and 
Frances Abbie Read. 

JOHN BUGGLHS FAMILY. 

Thomas Ruggles 

Came from England to Roxbury with his wife, Mary, in 
1637. Their son, John Ruggles, born in England, probably in 
1625, came over with his uncle John two years before his 
parents ; married Abigail Crafts, Jan. 24,1651, and died in Rox¬ 
bury Sept. 15, 1658. He had five children, the oldest, named 
John, died in infancy; the second son, John, baptized Jan. 22, 
1654, had a son John, born in Roxbury March 16, 1680, who 
married Sarah Tilden May 24,1704; his son, Capt. John Rug¬ 
gles , was born in Roxbury Feb. 28, 1705, and married Katherine 
Williams Jan. 20, 1741-2. He was commander, as supposed, 
of a company at the siege of Louisburg, and died of fever very 
soon after his return. He was a man of decided character and 
of great physical strength, reputed to be the strongest man that 
ever lived in Roxbury. As an instance of his great strength, it 
is said he could raise a barrel of cider from the ground and lift 
it over the raves of a cart. He had two children, a daughter, 
Catherine, and Capt. John Ruggles , born in Roxbury Dec. 13, 
1742. He married Mary Wadsworth, of Milton, May, 1772, 


576 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


having removed, when a child, to this town, where he died, 
Feb. 25, 1821. 

In 1784 he was on the hoard of selectmen. He was elected 
to the office of town treasurer in 1785, and held the office, by 
annual election, for thirty-six years, until his death. He was 
chosen town-clerk in 1786, and retained the position for 
twenty-one years. His wife, Mary, died in 1773, leaving an 
only child. 


Hon. John Ruggles. 

He was born Feb. 10, 1773, and married Betsy Wadsworth, 
second daughter of Rev. Dr. Benjamin Wadsworth, of Danvers, 
Mass. He followed in the footsteps of his father, and was early 
honored with offices of trust by his native town. He was 
chosen selectman in 1805, remaining in the office for twenty-one 
consecutive years; he was reelected in 1830, and served for a 
period of five years; of this twenty-six years of service he was 
chairman twenty years. He was on the board of assessors for 
twenty-five years, and chairman for nineteen. He was chosen 
town-clerk in 1814, and held the office till 1835, when he de¬ 
clined further service. He was the representative of Milton 
to the General Court for seven years; and State senator from 
1820 to 1825. He died here, Dec. 19, 1846, beloved, respected, 
and honored. His children were, Mary Wadsworth, who died 
in infancy; Betsy, born Aug. 31, 1808, married Francis W. 
Davenport, of Milton, Jan. 24, 1837 ; and John Ruggles , born 
May 28, 1816, and graduated at Harvard in 1836. He was, 
for a time, a teacher, afterwards, a bank officer, being for 
many years connected with the National City Bank on State 
street, Boston. He married Mary L. Gardner, of Bolton, Nov. 
30, 1842, and now resides in Brookline. His son John, who 
died Dec. 4, 1866, was the eighth John Ruggles in lineal suc¬ 
cession. In this family there have been five successive gen¬ 
erations of only sons, all bearing the name of John Ruggles. 

Capt. John Ruggles and his son Hon. John held important 
town offices for fifty years continuously. They were men of 
stable character and sterling integrity, and were gifted with a 
large share of common-sense. They proved themselves emi¬ 
nently worthy of the confidence reposed in them, faithfully 
and successfully meeting all those important trusts. Mr. Rug¬ 
gles, of Brookline, has kindly contributed to the citizens of 
Milton the portrait of his father, the Hon. John Ruggles, who 
was so closely connected with the affairs of this town through 
his whole life. 











576 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


having remov'd, ’when 

Feb. 25, 1821. 

iffiis town, where lie died, 

In 1784 he 

ilectmen. He was elected 

to the office o. 

85, and beM the office, by 

annual electic 

, until his death. He was 

chosen town- 

retained the positiort for 

twenty-one y< 
only child. 

(lieu, in li (y, leaving ah 


He was be 

eb. 10, 177§, and married Bet^y" Wadsworth 

second daug] 

if Rev. Dr. Benjamin Wadswo^^|°f Danvet> 

Mass. He ft 

ed in tjie footsteps of bis wi ‘jeix &hd was earl 

honored wit 

ices of trust by his until town. He wa 

chosen select 


consecutive ye; i> 

; he wds I'e&Ieciad. hf'188tk.*ihd served for 

period of five 

•s; of this twen«t,veai^ s< ^ he wa 

chairman tw< 

years. He was-qii board.!/ 'S fo 

twenty-five ye 

and chairiaa]^^^HB|een^ <•! mse 

town-clerk in 

4, and heldgjfBe dffibc tilL 188-.>. vx 1 . df 

clined furthe 

Ugh w*:: . repr.c setu, : iv ■ JfrjL ■• o 

to the Gener; i 

- v< / -s ao "><e i. 

1820 to 1825. H( 

3 dice’- here, 1%. ■ lif: 1846. beloved, rdfijpeefod 

and honored. 

s childhen we.ivfjMafy. Wadsworth,.; .y hd din 

in infancy; J 

*, horn Alig. 81, DAIS, "married-- 4 Francis W 

Davenport, o:i 

loci. Jan. 24; 1887baijti- JoJm Bon 

May 28, 1816 

id graduated at Harvard'-in /LRuth; /He* was 

for a time, 

acher, afterwards, a hank being fo 

many years c- 

cted with the IS atiohal City Ifauk on Stats 

street, Boston 

le married Marv L. Gardner, of Bolton, No-’v 

80, 1842, and 

v resides in Brookline. His son John, wb 

died Dec. 4, 1 - 

was the eighth John Ruggles in lineal sue 

cession. In 

family there have been five successive gen 

erations of on : 

>ns, all bearing the* name of John Ruggles. 

Capt. John 

;gles and his son Hbn. John, field importan 

town offices for 

fty years continuously. They were* men o 

stable charact 

id sterling integrity, and were-gifted with 

large share of 

>mmon-sense. Jhey proved, themselves emi 

nently worth 

f the confidence resell in them,' faith full 

and successfu 

meting all those important trusts. Mr. Rue 

gles, of Brooi 

3, . has kindly contributed to tfie citizens^- 

Milton the po 


was so close! 

nnecfchd with the affairs of this, town thro up 

his whole life 

























EARLY FAMILIES. 


577 


SUMNER FAMILY. 

William Sumner, son of William, was baptized at Bicester, 
England, Jan. 27, 1604-5, being, by his deposition given Dee. 
28, 1685, eighty-one years old, or thereabouts. 

William Sumner, and his wife, Mary West, settled in Dor¬ 
chester. He was made freeman in 1637, was admitted to the 
church 1652. He held many important offices. His wife, 
Mary, died June 7, 1676. Mr. Sumner’s will was proved March 
24,1691-2. 

His second son, Boger, was baptized at Bicester, England, 
Aug. 8, 1632; he married Mary, daughter of Thomas and Re¬ 
becca Josselyn, early settlers of Hingham, and afterwards of 
Lancaster. He was admitted to the Dorchester Church 1656, 
and was dismissed to assist in forming a church in Lancaster, 
whither he had removed. He continued there until the town 
was destroyed by the Indians, and then returned to Milton. 
He probably built the Sumner house, now standing on Brush 
Hill, about 1678, which has been enlarged, and perhaps en¬ 
tirely rebuilt; the will of Roger refers to “ the old end of the 
dwelling-house.” He was deacon of the Milton Church, and 
died here May 26, 1698, leaving a widow, Mary. 

George Sumner, the third child of William, was baptized at 
Bicester, England, March 1, 1633-4. He married, Nov. 7, 
1662, Mary, daughter of Edward Baker. George Sumner lived 
on Brush Hill, Milton, and was deacon of the Milton Church. 
His house stood below the old ferry house in the field; it was 
built about 1662. He died here Dec. 11, 1715, aged eighty- 
one. 

Children of Roger and Mary : — 

Waitstill, m. Manassah Tucker Dec. 29, 1676. Abigail. Samuel. 
William, b. 1673; d. Dec. 22, 1738; m. Esther, daughter of Mathias Puffer, 
June 2, 1697. Ebenezer, b. May 28, 1678; m. Elizabeth, daughter of 
Nathaniel Clap, March 14, 1699. Mary. Rebecca. 

Children of George and Mary: — 

Mary, b. Feb. 11, 1663. George, m. Ann Tucker, of Roxbury. 

Samuel and William, both lost in the Canadian expedition 1690. 

Ebenezer and Joseph both settled in Mendon. Edward m. Elizabeth 
Clap; he was grandfather of Governor Increase Sumner. Benjamin, b. 
Dec. 15, 1683; m. Elizabeth Badcock May 3, 1706; settled in Milton and 
lived in his father’s house. This house w r as burned April 10, 1748, with all 
the wearing apparel of the family. It was at once rebuilt. Benjamin’s 
fourth child was Abijah, b. March "6, 1713; d. Feb. 2, 1797. He occupied 
the house of his father and grandfather. 


578 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Children of William and Esther (Puffer) : — 

Mary, b. May 2, 1698; m. Ephraim Tucker Oct. 22, 1719. 

Abigail, b. Jan. 31, 1699 ; m. Robert Yose Sept. 14, 1721. 

Roger, b. March 25, 1702; m. Sarah Badcock Feb. 20, 1724. 

William, b. Feb. 7, 1704; m. Eleanor Daniel Nov. 25, 1727. 

Gersom. Esther. Seth, b. Dec. 15, 1710; m., first, Hannah Badcock 
Oct. 17, 1734; she died Aug. 13, 1739. He married, second, Lydia Badcock, 
daughter of William and Elizabeth, in 1742. He died Nov. 11, 1771. 

Children of Seth and Hannah: — 

Seth and Roger. 

Seth, b. July 4, 1735; m. Elizabeth Davis, of Dorchester; and, second, 

-Gay, of Dedham. His children were: Elisha, m. Nancy Vose, Aug. 

3, 1792 ; he was the father of Edwin V. Sumner, major-general in our civil 
war. General Sumner lived during childhood in the Kendall house, on 
Canton avenue, and attended the West School and Milton Academy. 
Davis Sumner, m. Dolly Vose, Nov. 3, 1795, twin sister of Nancy, the 
wife of Elisha; they were daughters of Gen. Joseph Yose, and sisters 
of Col. Josiah H. Yose, the father of Mrs. E. Y. Field and Miss Caroline 
Yose, now living on the old General Yose estate in Milton. 

Seth, born in 1735, bought of Ebenezer Tucker, tanner, for 
.£600, by deed dated May 30, 1781, two tracts of land: — 

One containing four and a half acres, bounded south-east on Taunton 
road; east, on John Ruggles and New Lane; north-east, on brook and 
land of George Clark; and north-west on land of Seth Sumner; with dwell¬ 
ing-house and shop standing thereon, and all said Tucker’s interest in the 
barn, tan-house, and yard. Also, one-half of twenty-six acres on the south 
side of Taunton road. 

This is what is now known as the “ Kendall house,” with 
the land belonging to the same, which descended to, and was 
occupied by, his sons Elisha and Davis. 

Children of Seth and Lydia: — 

Lydia, b. Dec. 6, 1743; m. George Clark. 

Enos, b. Sept. 25, 1746, unmarried; was a physician in Milton; d. June 
3, 1796. 

William, b. Aug. 6, 1748; m., first, Elizabeth Minot; second, Mary 
Pond; third, Sarah Thayer. His eleventh child was Rufus Pond Sumner, 
b. Jan. 17,1799 ; m. Susan Kingsbury. He had ten sons and one daughter. 
Through his father, William, son of Seth, he inherited a part of the Roger 
Sumner estate, on Brush Hill, Milton, which is now occupied by his sons. 

Esther. Clement. Job, b. April 23, 1754; graduated at Harvard Col¬ 
lege 1778. He was major in the Massachusetts Army of the Revolution; 
d.°Sept. 16, 1789. His death occurred on board a packet-ship on the 
passage from Charleston, S.C., to New York. He was buried in New 
York by the Freemasons, with much ceremony, in the Trinity church-yard, 
Broadway, where may be seen a marble monument to his memory. He 





EARL Y FAMILIES. 


579 


had a son. Job, b. at Milton Jan. 20, 1776, whose name was afterwards 
changed to Charles Pinckney; he graduated at Harvard 1796. He was 
High Sheriff of Suffolk for many years. He married Relief Jacobs, and 
died in 1839, aged sixty-three years. Charles Pinckney Sumner was the 
father of the Hon. Charles Sumner, b. at Boston Jan. 6, 1811; graduated 
at Harvard College 1830; the distinguished U.S. Senator from Massachu¬ 
setts. Rufus. Hannah. Abigail. Jesse. 

The will of William Sumner, the ancestor, was executed June 
23,1681. In this he divided all his “ land and housing ” into 
six parts: one part each to his sons Roger, George, Samuel, and 
Increase, and his daughter Joane Way; the other sixth part to 
he divided amongst his eldest son William’s children, there being 
nine of them. His four children last named to be executors. 

The inventory of Roger Sumner estate, in Milton, taken by order of 
Court, June 29, 1698, by Thomas Yose, Ralph Houghton and Samuel Tris¬ 
cot. Mary, the widow of Roger, to have as her thirds the old end of the 
dwelling-house in Milton, valued at £18. 18s. 

TUCKER FAMILY. 

The genealogical tree traced by Arthur H. Tucker, and 
kindly presented for this work, brings to our view the root and 
branches of this extensive family for many generations. 

The origin of Robert Tucker, the progenitor of the Milton- 
line of Tuckers, is considered under “ Incorporation, Name, and 
Boundaries.” 

According to recent investigations he was born in Milton- 
next-Gravesend, County of Kent, England, June 7, 1604. 
He is supposed to have come to Wassagusset, afterwards Wey¬ 
mouth, about 1635; to have removed to Gloucester, and then 
back again to Weymouth, from which place he came to Milton 
about 1662, and soon after settled on Brush Hill. He occupied 
an important and highly useful position in the town and the 
church during the earliest years of the settlement, and his 
numerous descendants have been among the most active and 
influential of our citizens through the whole history of the 
town. 

Members of the family have graced the pulpit, the army, and 
the representative halls of the country. From the beginning 
they have filled important offices of trust in the town and in the 
church. The following representatives of the Tucker name 
have held the office of deacon, making almost a continuous 
line from the formation of the church to the present day: 
Ephraim, Manasseh, Jaazaniah, William, Ebenezer, David, Isaac, 
Amariah, Atherton, Jesse, Nathan, Stillman L., and John A. 
Tucker. 


580 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Since Ephraim Tucker was ordained deacon, in 1699, there 
has been, generally, a Deacon Tucker, Senior, and a Deacon 
Tucker, Junior, as at the present time. 

Manasseh Tucker was born in Weymouth 1654. He re¬ 
moved with his father, Robert, to Milton, and died here April 
8, 1743, aged eighty-nine years. Samuel Tucker, son of Ma¬ 
nasseh and Waitstill (Sumner) Tucker, was born in Milton 
March 15, 1686. Samuel, son of Samuel, first, and Rebecca 
(Leeds) Tucker, was born in Milton September 27, 1719. 
Samuel, son of Samuel, second, and Elizabeth (Haywood) 
Tucker, was born in Milton July 14, 1750, and died in Scott’s 
Woods July 19, 1841, aged ninety-one years, being the oldest 
man then in Milton. His great-grandfather, Manasseh, who 
was here when the town was incorporated, lived until 1743, 
within about seven years of his birth, and his own life was pro¬ 
longed to the year 1841. Thus the lives of these two persons 
extended, with a little break, over the long period of one hun¬ 
dred and eighty years, embracing all of the history of Milton 
which is not within the knowledge of the present generation. 

Manasseh Tucker was one of the four citizens who purchased 
the “Blue Hill Lands” in 1711. He was then fifty-seven years 
of age, and doubtless made the purchase for the benefit of his 
children, as he continued at the homestead, on Brush Hill, 
during life. His son Samuel, who was then twenty-five years 
old, married Rebecca Leeds, of Dorchester, March 2, 1711, and 
commenced life on the new purchase, which was at that time a 
wilderness, without roads, and remote from inhabitants. His 
father, Manasseh, who seems, from his inventory, to have had 
a large property for the times, probably built a house for them 
on or near the site now occupied by the house of Charles K. 
Hunt, as the present house of Mr. Hunt, in which Samuel, the 
third, lived, would hardly bear the age of one hundred and 
seventy years. In his will Manasseh makes the following be¬ 
quest : “ I give to my son Samuel Tucker, besides the housing 
and lands and meadow that I have already given him by deed, 
the one-half of my lot of land in the third division of the Blue 
Hill Land, and all my rights in the land lately divided lying in 
Brantry.” 

A portion of these lands descended in direct line from his 
grandfather, through his father, to Samuel, the third, who died 
in the house, or in the near vicinity, 1841. 

Capt. Nathaniel Tucker, brother of Samuel, the third, owned 
the adjoining estate, now belonging to Col. H. S. Russell. At 
his decease, February 10, 1838, he left a legacy of $1,000 to the 
poor of Milton, in trust of the minister and deacons of the First 




/*• 

H3» 


EARLY FAMILIES. 


581 






































































































































































































582 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Evangelical Church; he also gave to the above-named church 
a tract of land on Canton avenue and White’s lane, on a part 
of which the meeting-house of this church now stands. 

The children of Samuel Tucker, and their children, owned 
land in the vicinity of their father’s estate, and some of them 
lived there until within twenty years. They have now died, or 
have removed, and their lands have passed into other hands. I 
know of but one in this line of the family, a grandchild of 
Samuel Tucker, now resident in Milton. 

The Hon. David W. Tucker is now the sole representative of 
the name in Scott’s Woods, where in former years it was so 
numerous. 

On Brush Hill there are three families of the Tucker name, 
in the seventh and eighth generations, still proprietors of lands 
originally owned by Robert or his sons. 

On Canton avenue three families represent the name in the 
sixth and seventh generations from Robert, one of which is on 
land owned by Manasseh Tucker. 

VOSE FAMILY, 
j Robert Vose, 

The first in the line of the Milton Vose family, was born in 
Lancaster County, England, about 1599, and died in Milton 
Oct. 16, 1683, aged eighty-four years. 

In July, 1654, he purchased of the heirs of the “ Worshipful 
John Glover” one hundred and seventy-four acres of land on 
the easterly and southerly side of “ Robert Badcocks River; ” 
running easterly along the present line of Ruggles lane and 
School street to Churchill’s lane, and beyond; stretching 
southerly and westerly as far as Brook road, White street, and 
the wall east of the house of Charles Breck, and thence to 
Pleasant street. Over this territory in subsequent years the 
descendants of Robert Vose were scattered along Canton avenue, 
in thfe vicinity of School street, on William Yose’s lane (now 
Churchill’s lane), on Gun Hill and Pleasant streets. A portion 
of this land, still occupied by his descendants, has remained in 
the family for nearly two and a half centuries. The purchase 
also embraced a tract on the south slope of Brush Hill, now in 
possession of the descendants of Thomas, son of Robert, who in¬ 
herited it from their ancestors. 

When Robert Vose came to Dorchester he had three sons, 
Edward, Thomas, and Henry, and two daughters, Elizabeth 
and Martha. Edward was born 1636 ; died Jan. 29,1716, aged 
eighty years. Thomas, born about 1641; died April 3,1708, 


EARLY FAMILIES. 


583 


aged sixty-seven years. He was a man of note in his day. For 
many years he was town recorder, and under his management 
the town records assumed a systematic and business-like form. 
He married Waitstill Wyatt; she died 1727, aged eighty-four. 
Elizabeth, born 1639, married Thomas Swift Dec. 9, 1657; 
died Jan. 15, 1675, without issue. Martha married Lieut. John 
Sharp, of Muddy Brook (Brookline) ; he was killed by the 
Indians April 21, 1676, with Capt. Wadsworth, in the Sudbury 
fight. She married, second, Buckminster, and was referred to as 
widow Buckminster when her father died, in 1683. 

Robert Yosewas a man of influence and note among the early 
inhabitants of Milton. He lived in the old Glover house, near 
the junction of Canton avenue and Brook road. He was one of 
the three petitioners for the incorporation of Milton. By an 
indenture, drawn June 13, 1662, and executed May 18, 1664, 
he conveyed to the town through a board of eighteen men, 
probably embracing every church-member or freeman of the 
town, eight acres ol land for church purposes, situated on or 
near Yose’s lane and Centre street, now occupied in part by the 
house of Mrs. Blanchard. 

On this lot a ministerial house was erected in 1663, and the 
second meeting-house in 1671, during the ministry of Rev. Mr. 
Mighill. Robert Yose was active and zealous in the effort to 
obtain a meeting-house and to secure the settlement of a per¬ 
manent ministry. 

Thacher says: — 

Sept. 24 1680 old goodman Yose gave me a bai'rel of cider and some 
honey. 

May 7, went to pray with our Military Company and then went and 
dined with Sargent Yose [Thomas] at William Daniells. 

March 1st, sister Yose [Mrs. Thomas] lodged here all night when Eliza¬ 
beth was born. 

Robert Yose lived here through a long life, respected and 
honored by his fellow-citizens, and came to his grave “ in a full 
age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.” 

From this ancestry sprang a long line of honored citizens who 
have been conspicuous in the history of the town through its 
entire existence. It would be a pleasant duty to present the 
full record of this family in its various branches; it is only pos¬ 
sible, however, to speak of individuals. 

Nathaniel Vose , 

The son of Edward, was born in Milton Nov; 17, 1672. He 
married Mary Belcher, by whom he had six children, and died 


584 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


here Oct. 9, 1758. He and his wife Mary were admitted to the 
church Dec. 4, 1698. According to Dr. Morison, — 

Nathaniel was considered the patriarch of the family. He was a New 
EnglandPuritan in faith and practice, using great self-denial, and educating 
his children in the most rigid manner of his sect. He ministered daily at the 
family altar, and continued to do so during the twilight of his life, which 
passed in the family of his youngest son. Early upon the Sabbath morning 
would he summon his daughters to the holy duties of the day by loudly pro¬ 
claiming at their doors that the holy women were early at the sepulchre. 
But upon other mornings he left them to their rest. 

Among the last recollections of his favorite grandson, Col. 
Joseph Yose, was the seventeenth chapter of Jeremiah, which he 
used to repeat to his children as being the favorite morning lesson 
for the Sabbath; he had learned it some seventy years before, while 
sitting on the cricket at his grandfather’s feet, listening to the 
family exercise. From his frequent reading and quoting from 
the Scriptures he was often called the “ walking Bible.” As a 
tiller of the soil he was so successful that his name has been 
handed down to the present generation as “ Farmer Yose.” 

Elijah Vose, 

The fifth child of Nathaniel, was born in Milton Jan. 1, 1708. 
He was married to Sarah Bent, Feb. 12, 1729-80, by Rev. John 
Taylor, and died in Milton Nov. 5,1766, aged fifty-eight. Sarah, 
his widow, died April 5, 1802, aged ninety-two years. His four 
sons — Joseph, born Nov. 26, 1738 ; died May 22, 1816 ; Elijah, 
born Feb. 24,1744; died March 19,1822; Moses and Bill—were 
all military men enrolled in the army, and actively engaged 
through the long struggle of the Revolution. Their military 
record is given in the chapter on that war. 

Gren. Joseph Vose 

Was married to Sarah How, Dec. 27,1761, by Rev. Mr. Robbins. 
About this time he built the “ Yose house,” on Canton avenue 
and Vose’s lane, where his eleven children were born. All his 
children lived to maturity except Elijah, who died in infancy. 
Eight of the children were married. Solomon, the eldest, was a 
graduate of Harvard College; he is spoken of with Milton law¬ 
yers. Isaac D., the second son, was a merchant in New Orleans; 
he died in Boston, Oct. 12, 1835. Joseph was deranged from a 
child. He lived in the McLean Asylum, and died there in 1835. 
Josiah Howe, the youngest son, was a trader at Augusta, Me. 
At the commencement of the war of 1812 he entered the army 
as captain. He died at the commencement of the Mexican war. 


EARL Y FAMILIES. 


585 


One of the daughters of Joseph Yose, Naomi, married a son 
of Major-General Heath. Margaret married Judge Savage, of 
Salem, Mass., and Sarah married Dr. Osgood, of Andover. The 
twin sisters, Dolly and Nancy, married the brothers Davis and 
Elisha Sumner. Nancy, who married Elisha Sumner, was the 
mother of Major-General Edwin Yose Sumner. 

Elizabeth Eliot Yose was born in the Yose house in 1785, and 
lived there more than fifty years. She was named from Madame 
Eliot, who had a beautiful gold ring made for her, on which was 
engraved her full name. She was familiarly known by all her 
friends as “ Aunt Betsey.” 

Joseph Yose served through the whole war of the Revolution. 
He had two horses shot under him, and at the close of the war 
held the office of colonel; he was afterwards promoted. 

Rev. Dr. James G. Yose has in his possession his grandfather’s 
commission as a brigadier-general, and also three letters from 
Lafayette to his grandfather. When General Yose left the army 
he was paid off in the currency of the times, which brought only 
two shillings on the pound. 

Sarah How , 

The wife of Joseph Yose, was a rare and excellent woman. 
She died in Milton June 15, 1824, aged eighty-three years. 

A grandson, in a letter written 1863, says: — 

She was noted for her piety, strength of character, and amiability. I 
knew her well, and many a time have sat by her while she related with 
thrilling interest incidents connected with the war of the Revolution. She 
would not eat poultry that had been killed by wringing the neck, upon the 
ground that St. Paul, in one of his epistles, commanded that things 
strangled should not be eaten. 

Qol. Elijah Vose, 

Brother of Joseph, was also in the army during the whole 
period of the war. He is represented as a fine-looking man, 
of good proportions and pleasing countenance. He was not so 
severe a disciplinarian as his brother Joseph, and consequently 
was more popular with his command. He had two children, — 
Hon. Elijah Yose, of Boston, who was a successful merchant, 
and a member of the Cincinnati Society, an honor which he 
inherited, through his father, from his grandfather, Elijah Yose, 
who was an original member. His sons, the Hon. Henry Yose 
and Francis Yose, were also successively members of the 
Cincinnati. Henry graduated at Harvard College in 1837, 
and was an eminent lawyer and Judge of the Supreme Court 
of Massachusetts. He died in Boston Jan. 17, 1869. Francis 


586 


HISTORY OF MIL TO 1ST. 


Yose was a successful merchant, but suffered much from ill- 
health, and died in 1880. Ruth, the daughter of Col. Elijah 
Yose, married Eben Breed, of Charlestown. 

Moses and Bill Vose 

Were likewise patriotic and noble men, serving in the war with 
their brothers, both holding important stations, the latter a 
paymaster; and also meeting the duties of faithful citizens in 
the town during a long life. 

■ Col. Josiah Howe Vose , 

The youngest son of Gen. Joseph, was born in Milton Aug. 8, 
1784. His military career is spoken of in the war of 1812. 
He married, May 3, 1808, Charlotte Cushing, of Scituate, a 
lady of rare qualities of heart and mind; meek and gentle as a 
child, and yet gifted with powers equal to the changes and 
emergencies of a military life. 

Their eldest son, 1st Lieut. Josiah H. Yose, Jr., received a 
commission in the U.S.A., December, 1737, and served in 
Arkansas and in the Seminole war in Florida. His exposures 
brought on consumption. He left his station for home, and 
died in New York, June 20, 1841, just eighteen hours after his 
arrival there, aged twenty-five years. 

Charlotte C. Yose, their eldest daughter, married Lieut. 
Thomas O. Barnwell, U.S.A. He graduated at West Point 
July 1, 1834; she died at Fort Towson, Choctaw Nation, 
Sept. 9, 1836, aged twenty-five years. 

Elizabeth Eliot, the second daughter, married Capt. George 
P. Field, U.S.A. He was born at Black Rock, near Buffalo, 
and graduated at West Point July 1, 1834. He was engaged 
in the war with the Seminoles, and afterwards in the Mexican 
war. He distinguished himself in the battles of the Rio 
Grande, and fell at the battle of Monterey while gallantly 
leading his company in the attack on that stronghold. 

1st Lieut. Josiah Howe Vose Field, only son of Capt. Field 
mentioned above, was a Milton boy, and received his education 
at Milton Academy. He was born at Tampa Bay, Fla., in 
1843. He graduated with honor at West Point in 1863, and 
was appointed to the Department of Ordnance. He was 
stationed at the Arsenal, Bridesburg, Pa., and afterwards was 
placed on the staff of Gen. David Hunter, where he was 
engaged in a dangerous expedition in the valley of the Shenan¬ 
doah. The fatigue and exposure were too much for his youth 
and delicate organization. He was attacked with typhoid fever, 




EARLY FAMILIES. 


587 


and died at Cumberland, Md., July 14, 1864, aged twenty-one 
years. 

James Gardner Yose, the youngest child of Col. Josiah H. 
Yose, was born March 6, 1880. He was graduated at Yale 
College in 1851. His first field of labor in the ministry was 
with the church in Greenfield, Mass. He was soon appointed 
to the professorship of rhetoric and oratory in Amherst Col¬ 
lege ; this position he resigned, after a few years, to engage 
again in his chosen profession. In 1866 he was settled over 
the Beneficent Church, in Providence, R.I., where he now is. 
Dr. Yose is a member of the Cincinnati through his father. 
He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Brown 
University. 


Thomas Vose line. 


The branch of the family residing at Brush Hill and on 
Canton avenue, near Atherton street, descended from the line 
of Thomas, son of Robert. Thomas, the son of Thomas, had 
Edward, who settled at the foot of Brush Hill, nearly opposite 
the residence of the late Elijah Tucker, where the old cellar 
was seen within a few'years. This land remained in the family 
until 1882. Edward was the father of Robert, who married 
Abigail Sumner, of Milton. He was father of Benjamin, born 
in Milton 1744, died April 18, 1815. He married Esther 
Sumner, of Milton, and may have obtained through her, in 
addition to his paternal inheritance, a portion of the Sumner 

land, which, on the westerly side of Robbins street, in 1747, 
was bounded by Canton avenue, Brush Hill road, and New 

lane. Benjamin was the father of Jesse, born 1783, and Jesse 
was the father of Joshua Whiting, Jesse, and Benjamin C., 
who, or their children, now own and occupy the land. 

Capt. Thomas Vose, born March 12, 1707, was the fourth son 
of Thomas and Hannah Yose; he married Patience, the third 
daughter and fifth child of Joseph and Rhuama Billings; she 
was born March 4, 1700, and died March 27, 1760. He lived on 
Canton avenue, near Atherton street. Their children were : — 

Daniel, b. Feb. 20, 1741; m. Rachel Smith Nov. 11, 1762; he d. Dee. 
7, 1807. 

Rhuama, b. May 17, 1743 ; m. Josiah Yose. 



Daniel Yose and Rachel Smith’s children were : — 


588 


HISTORY OF MILTON,\ 


Patience, b. Aug. 14, 1763; m. Amos Holbrook Oct. 7, 1783; she d. 
March 17, 1789. 

Elizabeth, b. Oct. 20, 1767 ; m. j l^mundB^ker • \ d ' March 28 ’ 1843> 

Fanny. 

Daniel T., b. May 17, 1779; d. May 29, 1837. 

Edmund J. Baker is the son of Edmund Baker and Elizabeth 
Yose. 

Jesse Pierce married Elizabeth S. Lillie, the daughter of John 
Lillie and Elizabeth Yose. The Hon. Henry L. and Edward L. 
Pierce are their sons. 

The only child of Dr. Amos Holbrook and Patience Yose 
was Clarissa, who married Henry Gardner, the father of Gov¬ 
ernor Gardner. 

INDIVIDUALS OF THE VOSE FAMILY WHO WENT FJROM MILTON 
AND SETTLED IN MAINE. 

Seth , the son of Jonathan, and grandson of Thomas and 
Hannah, born January 4, 1788-4; went to Thomaston and 
Cushing. 

Jesse, son of Jonathan, and grandson of Thomas and 
Hannah, born March 3, 1742-3; went to Sandy river; died at 
Kingfield. 

Thomas, a brother of Jesse, born May 8,1753 ; married Sarah 
George ; went to Thomaston with General Knox. 

Soloman, son of Joseph, and grandson of Elijah and Sarah, 
born July 22, 1768 ; went to Augusta. 

William, son of William, and grandson of William and 
Abigail, born April 12, 1778; settled in Portland. 

Thomas, the son of Thomas, and grandson of Thomas and 
Abigail, born September 27, 1765; went to Robbinston. 

Peter Thacher, son of Thomas, and grandson of Robert and 
Abigail, born September 4, 1769; went to Augusta, but re¬ 
turned to Massachusetts. 

Spencer, son of Jonathan, and grandson of Jonathan and 
Mary, born September 2, 1758; went to Thomaston. 

David, son of David, and grandson of David and Mehitable, 
went to Concord, Mass., and went from there to Hampden or 
Thomaston. 

Charles, or Robert Charles, the son of Samuel, and grandson 
of Robert and Miriam, born June 14, 1783, and went to 
Augusta, and died there. 

Josiah H., son of Joseph, and grandson of Elijah and Sarah, 
born August 8, 1784; went to Augusta; from there into 



EARLY FAMILIES. 


589 


the regular army, and died a colonel in parade at New 
Orleans. 

Lewis , son of Lemuel, and grandson of Jonathan and Mary 
Yose, born April 3, 1763; was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
Avar; marched to some of the camps on the Hudson river, and 
up the Mohawk river to the German Flats; Avas honorably dis¬ 
charged, and returned to his native town, and was a saddler for 
many years; married Sally Jones, of Brookline, in 1792; was 
an ensign, lieutenant, and captain in the militia of Massachu¬ 
setts ; had two sons and a daughter; all died unmarried. His 
daughter Sarah was born October, 1805, and died October 11,1883. 
By her will she left about $7,000 to the Milton Public Library; 
and to the ministers and deacons of the First Congregational 
Church in Milton, as a charity fund, to take effect at the death 
of a cousin and her husband, property estimated to be worth 
$7,000. 


WADSWOUTH FAMILY. 

Capt. Samuel Wadsworth was the son of Christopher and 
Grace Wadsworth, of Duxbury. Christopher was the common 
ancestor of the Maine and Massachusetts Wadsworths. It is 
believed that he came from England in the ship “Lion,” which 
arrived at Boston Sept. 16, 1632, and settled at Duxbury, the 
same year, near the residence of Miles Standish. 

We find Christopher Wadsworth’s name in the first record of 
freemen in the Plymouth Colony in 1633, and he is recorded as 
being taxed the same year; his name is appended to a will as 
a witness with William Bradford, the second governor of Plym¬ 
outh Colony, under date of Sept. 16, 1633. In 1636 he was 
chosen one of eight to revise the ordinances of the colony, and 
served many years as representative and in other places of 
trust. A part of his estate is now in the possession of his 
descendants of the same name. 

Capt. Samuel Wadsworth was born in Duxbury, and moved 
to Milton, then a part of Dorchester, about 1656. He took 
the freeman’s oath in 1668. The first time his name appears in 
the records of Dorchester is in 1661, when he was appointed 
with others to view the fence in the common cornfield. He 
took an active part in the formation of the new town of Milton 
in 1662; he was also active in church and town affairs, his 
name appearing oftener on the town records the last few years 
of his life than any other, as selectman and as attorney for the 
town in collecting debts, and in defending the town in suits 
brought against it before the Court. See his history in “ King 
Philip’s War.” 


590 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


In conveyances lie is spoken of first as carpenter, then as 
yeoman, and last as captain. One deed, dated Sept. 9, 1680, to 
heirs of Capt. S. Wadsworth, reads as follows: — 

Capt. Roger Clap of Castle Island in the Massachusetts Bay in New 
England and Joane his wife in consideration of a valuable sume of lawful 
money of New England to them in hand formerly paid by Capt Samuel 
Wadsworth of Milton in the afores d Colony of Massachusetts Bay in New 
England Dece d in his life time the receipt whereof they do hereby acknowl¬ 
edge, and themselves fully satisfied and contented, have given, granted, 
bargained, sold, aliened, enfeoffed and confirmed unto Abigail Wadsworth 
Relic, widow of s’d Sam’l Wadsworth, and to the heirs of s’d Sami Wads¬ 
worth a certain parcel of land &c. 

Capt. Samuel Wadsworth was father of seven children, six 
sons and a daughter: — 

Ebenezer, b. 1660 ; d. Aug. 1, 1717, aged fifty-seven yrs. He was deacon 
of the Milton church. He had four children, —three sons and a daughter. 
George, the youngest grandson of Capt. Samuel, b. in 1699, was ensign in 
Captain Goffe’s company of colonial troops at the siege of Havana in 1740. 

Christopher, b. in 1661; unmarried; d. 1687. 

Timothy, b. in 1662, was a carpenter and gunmaker. He had four chil¬ 
dren, two sons, and two daughters. Recompense, the youngest son, grad¬ 
uated at Harvard College in 1708, and was Master of the Grammar School 
in Boston ; d. 1713. Timothy moved to Newport, R.I., and died there. 

Hon. Joseph, b. 1667 ; d. 1750. He was much in public life; was treas¬ 
urer of Boston for many years. He had one son and three daughters. 

Rev. Benjamin, b. 1670, graduated at Harvard, 1690. He was ordained 
minister of the First Church in Boston, Sept. 8, 1696; was made President 
of Harvard College July 7, 1725, and died March 16, 1734. He married 
Ruth Curwin, of Salem, but left no children. 

Abigail, b. 1672; m. Andrew Boardman, of Cambridge. 

Deacon John, of Milton, b. 1674 ; d. 1734. He was the Milton Repi-esen- 
tative at the General Court 1717-1725-26 and 1732-33. He married Eliza¬ 
beth Yose and had twelve children. It is from him that the branch of 
the family now occupying the old homestead in Milton is descended. 

Deacon John Wadsworth was associated with Manasseh 
Tucker, Samuel Miller, and Moses Belcher, 1711, in the pur¬ 
chase of the “Blue Hill Lands,” fifteen hundred acres of 
which were annexed to Milton in 1712. 

His eldest son, Rev. John, horn 1708, graduated at Harvard 
1723. He was ordained at Canterbury Sept. 17, 1728, settled 
in Palmer, Mass., and finally moved to Coos, N.H. He died in 
Milton June 15, 1766, aged sixty-three years. 

Deacon Benjamin Wadsworth, second son of Deacon John, 
born in Milton 1707 ; married Esther Tucker in 1735, and died 
Oct. 17, 1771, aged sixty-four years. He had ten children. He 
built a house about the time of his marriage, which is still stand- 



EARL Y FAMILIES. 


591 


ing on Wadsworth. Hill, Milton. Only two of his sons lived to 
manhood. 

One of these, Rev. Benjamin, was born 1751; graduated at 
Harvard 1769, and was ordained in Danvers, Mass., 1773, where 
he died in 1826, in the fifty-fourth year of his ministry, aged 
seventy-five. He was honored with the degree of S.T.D. in 
1816. He published a sermon preached at the ordination of 
Josiah Badcock, 1783 ; two Thanksgiving sermons, 1795-96, and 
a dedication sermon, 1807. 

His second daughter married Hon. John Ruggles, of Milton. 

John, eldest son of Deacon Benjamin, was born in 1739; mar¬ 
ried Katherine Bullard, and had five children. 

He was one of the minute-men in 1775, and started with his 
company for the battle-field at Lexington, but was unable to 
proceed, being then in ill-health. He died the same year, aged 
thirty-six, leaving a widow and four small children, all too 
young to take part in the war that followed ; but his patriotic 
widow sent her team to transport the fascines for the fortifica¬ 
tion of Dorchester Heights. 

Three of John’s sons settled in Milton, and divided the old 
homestead between them. Joseph, the eldest, was a blacksmith. 
Benjamin, the second son, was a wheelwright and plough-maker. 
Wooden ploughs only were made in those days. The Wads¬ 
worth plough became famous not only in Milton, but in all 
adjoining towns. 

Deacon William, the third son, was a cabinet-maker. 

The only representatives of the family left in Milton are 
Charles Wadsworth, residing on Randolph avenue, and Capt. 
Edwin D. Wadsworth, both of the sixth generation from Capt^ 
Samuel. 

Captain Wadsworth lives on the original Wadsworth estate, 
and near his residence is the house built by Deacon Benjamin, 
grandson of Capt. Samuel, one hundred and fifty years ago. 




592 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

FLOWERS, TREES, BIRDS. 

FLOWERS OF MILTON. 

T that charming season 

“ When spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil; ” 

when every breeze is balmy with health, and every shower 
comes down laden with plenty, and every voice from the thicket 
is music; when the soft dews of Hermon glisten on every spire 
of grass, and trembling leaf, and opening flower, the observing 
eye may discern within our borders, by the wayside, and by the 
rivulet, in field and in glen, a fulness and richness of floral 
beauty unsurpassed in any section. 

Words cannot paint the scene which the Creating Hand 
spreads out before all his children, year by year, in the open 
book of nature; but from this charming display we may learn 
that God loves beauty and fragrance, and would have us love 
them. 

While we would fain linger in these spring-bejewelled paths, 
and note every opening flower, we can only, as we rapidly pass 
along, glance at a few, not overlooking the modest among the 
showy. The wild flora of Milton is rich in common varieties, 
while some rare species may be claimed as native to our soil. 

Liverwort [Anemone Hepatica ]. — On the lower wooded 
slopes of the Blue Hills, after a few mild days in April, may be 
found abundant specimens of the Liverw’ort. 

It is one of the first and most interesting of our plants, send¬ 
ing up among the dry forest leaves a slender, hairy stem, with 
a purple, sometimes nearly white, blossom. Removing the 
covering the trees have dropped upon it, the liver-shaped leaves 
are seen that give name to the flower. These survive the cold 
season, and help to keep the plant alive ready to welcome the 
return of spring. Having finished their winter’s watch they 
perish, and give place to the next, which shall perform the same 
office the next season of cold. 










wf^ere-orj th e 
%vifef lliyrfje blowj, 
W here ©x-fipj md t% 
noddiijgVioletj grow; 
(slyiteover-c^opieci 
"wity fojf-j W0©dbiqe ? 
W ith' sweet iTfUfkTo^ 

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MiOSy MMER NIOHIS ORE AM “ '^iC 




FLOWERS. 


593 


These are found also in the grove of the William M. Hunt 
estate, near the West schoolhouse, and at East Milton, near 
the quarries of the Granite Railway Company. 

Wood Anemone [. Anemone Nemordsa]. — At the same time, 
or earlier, the roadsides and hedges show here and there the 
single white or purplish Wood Anemone, the wind-flower of 
the Greeks; so called, says Gray, because “the flower was 
thought to open only when the wind blows.” 

Rite Anemone \_Anemonella Thalictroides ]. — In the same 
localities, sometimes side by side with this, its cousin, the Rue 
Anemone may be seen, though much more rarely. It has a 
delicate umbel of star-shaped, white, rarely pinkish, flowers. It 
is to be noted that the prevailing color of our earliest flowers is 
white. 

Hotjstonia, or Innocence [ Houstonia Coerulea]. —About the 
fifteenth of April, in favorable seasons, the open fields under 
cultivation display patches of this delicate flower. This is 
always a favorite with young flower-seekers, the abundance of 
its yellow-eyed blossoms making it certain they will fill their 
baskets. 

Bigelow, in his “ Plants of Boston,” says: “ The long-leaved 
Houstonia ( Houstonia purpurea , var. longifolia ) ,is found in dry 
soils at Blue Hills in Milton.” In giving localities where he 
has observed our native plants this author refers to no town, 
except Roxbury, more frequently than Milton, —a proof that our 
flora was noticed as abundant years ago by one who was famil¬ 
iar with the flowers in their haunts in all Eastern Massa¬ 
chusetts. 

Violet. —-The Violet family is represented in Milton by at 
least twelve of our native species. 

Bigelow, already referred to, speaks of their changeableness, 
owing to situation, time of flowering, humidity, and drought; 
so that one species is liable to be mistaken for another, inas¬ 
much as most of the violets are in flower at the same season. 
By the wayside, on the sunny slopes of hills, at the foot of 
isolated forest trees, and in secluded woodlands and fields, 
where no eye but the insect or bird will see them, they love to 
dwell. 

In May or June in their chosen haunts may be found the 
Lance-leaved Violet [ V. Lanceolata], the Sweet-scented White 
[ V Bldnda ] both of which are fragrant, the latter distinctly so; 
the Birdfoot [F". Pedata~\ ; the Hoodleaved [I 7 ". Cuculldta~\, so 
very common and various in its growth and especially in its 
color, being, as Gray says, “deep or pale violet — blue or purple, 
sometimes nearly white, or variegated with white; ” the Dog- 


594 


HISTORY OF MILT OX. 


violet [ V. Canina ]; the Arrow-leaved [ V. Sagittdta] ; the 
Priinrose-leaved [ V. Primulce-folia], 

Then there is our only Yellow Violet [V. Pubescens] , which 
blossoms in low grounds from April to October. 

Viola Odorata, the sweet violet of Europe, is also found grow¬ 
ing spontaneously in the grounds about the churches, having 
evidently strayed from a neighboring garden. 

Dandelion [ Taraxicum Officinale ]. — How do the eyes of 
childhood and age gladden at the sight of the first Dandelion ! 
Its golden circlet appears complete before we suspect it has 
awakened from its winter sleep, and the whole household is 
summoned to the sunny spot to welcome the herald of the 
domestic flowers. It seems like the reflection of God’s smile 
upon his children. 

“ Dear common flower that grow’st beside the way, 

Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold.” 

Bloodroot [, Sanguinaria Canadensis], — This plant has 
been discovered lately on the line of the old road running from 
Randolph avenue, near the residence of D. W. Tucker. The 
root is surcharged with a red-orange juice, from which arises its 
name. The flowers are white and handsome. 

Lady’s Slipper \_Cypripedium Acaule], — On the banks of 
the Neponset, at Mattapan, nearly opposite Mr. S. A. Burt’s 
house, and also near Quarry street, and in the meadows near 
Williams avenue, grows the unique Lady’s Slipper. 

No one who has once read a good description would fail to. 
recognize this plant at once, without analysis. Two large oval, 
downy, plaited leaves starting from the same point in the earth, 
separate as they grow, and send up, as if from their clasp, a 
single stem, at the top of which is the drooping blossom, look¬ 
ing, for all the world, as though it might be the wreck of a 
fairy balloon, with a slit the whole length of its purple silk 
covering. The botanist, however, tells you this is not properly 
the flower, but only the petal enlarged and inflated into this 
singular shape. The Indian called it Moccasin Flower. Some 
know it as the Whip-poor-will Moccasin. 

Wild Columbine \_Aquilegia Canadensis], — On the dry 
hills and pastures, along the sides, and in the seams in the rocks, 
the Wild Columbine hangs out on the ends of slender branches, 
its pendulous flowers scarlet without and yellow within. It has 
five petals, that resemble straight horns alternating with the 
sepals* and their rich stores offer a tempting bait to the honey- 
loving insects. 





FLOWERS. 


595 


The bumble-bee, like a miner, bores for them from without. 
The Ruby-throat, our only humming bird, knows where the 
Columbine grows, and, poised on rapid wing, he settles himself 
beneath the dower, remaining almost motionless, like a pendant 
jewel, until he has rided all the sweets, when he darts, like an 
arrow, to the next, until his repast is dnished. 

Forget-me-not \_Myosotis laxa ].* — -Almost any time from 
June to October the lover of dowers may dnd on the Jason 
Reed estate, or near Central avenue, another prize in the Forget- 
me-not. Why a plant, whose generic name means a “ mouse’s 
ear,” and whose former name was “Scorpion Grass,” should 
ever have been chosen for remembrance in a sentimental way, 
is not apparent. But this pale blue blossom with its yellow eye, 
that now so long has borne this charming name, will attract us 
to its haunts; and young and old will pronounce this new, 
. sweet name with a thrill of joy as long as our tongue is spoken. 

“ The bright-eyed flow’ret of the brook — 

Hope’s gentle gem, —the sweet Forget-me-not.” 

Nodding Trillium [Trillium Cernuum ]. — In the woods 
on the estate of the late William M. Hunt, the artist, and also on 
the Rotch estate, grows this singular dower. Its simple blossom 
always nods, or bends down, so as to hide itself beneath the 
three large roundish leaves. 

Northern Calla [Calla Palustris]. — On the south side 
of Canton avenue, nearly opposite the Center schoolhouse, are 
found two plants somewhat rare in the vicinity. One of them, 
it is believed, grows nowhere else for miles around. One is the 
Northern Calla, the American species allied to the popular 
Egyptian Calla of our dwellings. It grows near the little 
stream just east of where it dows, under Canton avenue, and 
within half-a-dozen steps of the road. Its creeping root-stock, 
as large as the finger, sends up a profusion of smooth, heart- 
shaped leaves, from the midst of which the nearly round stem 
rises, bearing the blossom, white within, somewhat like the house 
Calla, but much smaller. The root is acrid, like that of the 
Arum, but loses its pungency on drying. Linnseus says, “The 
Laplanders use it for making bread.” 

The other plant found in various parts of the same meadow, 
and also along the wet edges of Mattapan street, is the 

Buck Bean \Menyanthes Trifoliata\. — This is one of the 
most delicate and beautiful dowers. The root penetrates the 
bog earth to a great distance horizontally, intersected with 
joints at each half-inch, from which arise the leaves with three 
oval somewhat deshy leadets. 


596 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


The flower stalk, nearly a foot high, bears a conical cluster of 
funnel-shaped flowers, white, with the least tinge of pink, their 
upper surface densely covered with minute fibers, which might 
be imagined the cotton of the fairies. 

Arethtjsa [Arethusa Bulbosa]. — Gray places this among 
the rare plants. It is abundant in some of our wet meadows in 
May and June. In the low land between Canton avenue and the 
ice-pond, and also on Blue Hill avenue, near Mrs. Hemmen- 
way’s pond, it will always reward your search. The erect, 
smooth stem, leafless in young specimens, bears at its top a 
single sweet-scented flower, rarely two, of a bright rose-purple, 
so clear that it seems like woven sunbeams, the five petals taking 
somewhat the form of an open mouth, curving to one side, and 
having the lip curled, and bearded in the middle, and its purple 
variegated with gold and white. 

Clematis [ Clematis Virginiana]. -—In August the Clematis 
is in blossom. Bigelow says: 1,4 It is very abundant on the 
banks of the Neponset river, Milton.” He might now add, 
“ and in all sections of the town.” It is a hardy, climbing 
vine, the stems of its leaves winding around the bushes over 
which it grows. These are flecked all over with its numerous 
cymes of white. It is most remarkable, however, when in 
fruit. The long, feathery, coiled-up tails of its seeds resemble 
tufts of wool. 

Another name for the plant is 44 Traveller’s Joy.” Such, 
indeed, it proves in its wild and graceful festooning of hedge 
and wall along the dusty thoroughfare. Its other common 
name is said to have been given by Queen Elizabeth when she 
saw one of the species imported to England. 44 Let it be called 
‘Virgin’s Bower,’ she said, 44 for young maidens will delight 
to sit beneath its pleasant shade.” 

Goldenrod [Solidago Canadensis']. Aster [Aster Laevis]. 
— The Goldenrods and Asters, blooming at the same time, 
mingle their showy colors, and all over our town bedeck high¬ 
way and field with brightness and beauty. 


Along the roadside, like the flowers of gold, 
That tawny Incas for their gardens wrought, 
Heavy with sunshine droops the goldenrod.” 


“ And crowding close along the way, 
The purple Asters blossom free; 
In full profusion far and wide, 
They fill the path on every side, 
In loose confusion multiplied 
To endless harmony.” 



FLOWERS. 


597 


Fringed Gentian [Grentiana Crinita]. — In the low mead¬ 
ows, at the base of the Blue Hills, late in September and 
October, the beautiful Fringed Gentian may be seen. 

“ Those blossoms bright with autumn dew, 

And colored with the heaven’s own blue.” 

It is quite rare here. The flower is of a deep purple, fringed at 
the top, sometimes almost twisted, but always of a nearly square 
tubular opening. It might almost seem that in this late-comer 
nature was bidding good-by to the flower-seeker till the next 
spring shall begin the new display. 

There is one, however, that blossoms still later, it is the 

Witch Hazel [. Hamamelis Virginica]. — It grows in damp 
woods, and may be found among the maples opposite the Cen¬ 
ter schoolhouse, unless recently cut away. It is a small, bushy 
tree, sending up a number of oblique trunks, sometimes of the 
size of a man’s arm. Along the smaller branches the sessile 
flowers are seen, about three together, of a golden yellow. 
They are the last of a “ beauteous sisterhood, the gentle race of 
flowers,” and they remain till the last autumn leaves have fallen ; 
yes, far into the coldest season, when the winding-sheet of 
snow is upon the ground, as if they would stay till they could 
report to the next race of plants what transpired in their win¬ 
ter’s sleep. 


flowering shrubs and trees. 

Barberry [ Berberis Vulgaris]. — No description of our 
flora would pass by the Barberry. Few shrubs are more com¬ 
mon along our highway and on gravelly soil, and scarcely any 
more beautiful. The branches are armed with triple thorns, 
sharper than any needle. The yellow flowers appear in June 
in hanging clusters. These show a degree of irritability hardly 
exceeded by the sensitive plant itself. When the flower is 
fully open the stamens are seen spread out on the inside of the 
corolla. If now the filament is touched with a spire of grass, 
or a pin, it instantly contracts and throws the pollen swiftly 
against the stigma. The abundant clusters of blossoms, suc¬ 
ceeded in the autumn by its deep-red berries, place this among 
our prettiest shrubs. 

Wax-work [Celastrus Scandens] . — In autumn, at a few 
places in the westerly part of the town, especially near Mr. 
Lewis Davenport’s, is found this plant, called with us Roxbury 
Wax-work. It is a strong, woody vine, like the ivy, climbing 



598 


HIS TOR Y OF MIL TON. 


small trees, but not as a parasite, preferring walls and fences 
for support. I have said in the autumn, for it is not conspicuT 
ous till the frost touches the ripe orange-colored capsule, when 
its three valves turn backward, disclosing the bright scarlet 
berries, which retain their hues long after the leaves have dis¬ 
appeared. 

Mountain Laurel [Kalmia Latifolia]. — A few years ago 
the tract known as “ Church land,” west of Mattapan street, 
was the home of the charming Mountain Laurel. Its smooth, 
oval leaves defy the severest cold of winter, being ever-green 
like those of the pine family. Its flowers vary from white to 
red, but it is their perfect symmetry which is their chief attrac¬ 
tion, and he who shall imitate their tasteful form in some article 
of use or ornament will deserve well of his race. The tube of 
the flower is cylindrical, its upper part spreading while its mar¬ 
gin is entirely erect and five-cleft. Then on the inside, at 
regular intervals, are ten depressions or pits, accompanied by 
corresponding knobs on the outside. In these pits the tops of 
the stamens grow till they are perfected, when they liberate 
themselves with a spring, shedding the pollen against the 
stigma, — a new proof that the great Forming Hand fashions 
every one of his works in wisdom. A few years since, Mr. 
Joshua W. Yose transplanted a root of the Laurel from this 
locality into his garden, which continued to bloom in its new 
home. If the woodman’s axe and fire (both of which have 
since been in that spot) have spared it, we have not lost our 
most ornamental shrub. But a diligent search over parts of 
the “Church land” has failed to discover this much-sought-for 
prize. 

Flowering Dogwood \_Cornus Florida Q.— If we carefully 
observe the woods, in addition to the common trees found 
in every town, we can see in Milton the Flowering Dogwood, 
or, as some call it, the Wild Tulip Tree. 

It is found in the woods around the base of Blue Hill. There 
is one tree left on Highland street, near the residence of the 
late Deacon Samuel Adams, and another near the head of 
Thacher street, west of the Academy. When in full flower 
it is the most ornamental of our shrubs. Its large white blos¬ 
soms nearly hide the green leaves not fully grown at time of 
flowering; this, with its small size, give it a tent-like appear¬ 
ance. Donald G. Mitchell says, “It pitches its white tent in 
the edge of the forest.” 

The Tupelo \_Nyssa Multijlora ]. — This flowering tree 
is not uncommon in Milton. One grows in the High School 
grounds, near the large white oak south of the building. This 



FLOWERS. 


599 


is the tree called by so many different names. Dr. Emerson, 
in “Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts,” says of it: — 

In Bristol and south-eastern Massachusetts it is the Snag Tree, some¬ 
times Horn Pine ; in the western part of the State, the Pepperidge ; often 
in every part, the Hornbeam, from the toughness of its wood; in the 
middle and southern part, the Gum Tree. 

Tupelo is the Indian name, and will probably be retained. 

Dr. Emerson, whose language I have in part used above, 
made a journey of twenty-five miles expressly to see one of 
these trees standing in Cohasset. He found it a giant of its 
kind, with a trunk eleven feet in circumference, a height of 
fifty feet, and a top sixty-six feet in diameter. 

The one on the Academy grounds in Milton is a perfect cone 
in shape, its leaves of a clear green in summer, changing later 
to a rich scarlet and crimson, at which season it is covered with 
its bright-blue fruit, rendering it an interesting object. 

Hop Hobnbeam [ Ostrya Virginica ]. — This receives its name 
from the resemblance of its spike or seed-vessel to the hop. 

One or'more of these may be seen near the pound on Canton 
avenue, and also on the B. S. Rotch estate, shading the avenue 
a short distance from its entrance. The wood of this tree is 
close-grained, tough, and stiff, rendering it suitable for levers, 
which has given it the name of “ Leverwood.” Its extreme 
hardness suggests the name of “ Ironwood.” This property 
fits it for use in making cogs for mill-wheels. 

The many plants and shrubs of Milton of which no mention 
is made in this brief descriptive treatise can only be enumer¬ 
ated, with their haunts and times of flowering, in the list of the 
Trees and Plants of Milton, herewith subjoined. In making 
up this list we have received assistance from Mr. S. D. Hunt, 
the first High School teacher of Milton, and also from the 
High School botany teachers and classes of 1884 and 1885; 
but the most valuable aid has been from Judge Joseph R. 
Churchill, of Dorchester, whose herbarium of fifteen hundred 
species of plants and flowers contains all the varieties of Milton 
plants named in the list. 

This pleasant hour of communion with the flowers must 
end. 


“ Were I in churchless solitudes remaining, 

Far from all voices of teachers or divines, 

My soul would find in flowers of God’s ordaining, 
Priests, Sermons, Shrines.” 


600 


HISTOR Y OF MILTON. 


LIST OF TREES AND PLANTS GROWING NATURALLY IN MILTON. 

(Introduced plants are printed in italics.) 


Botanical Name. 


Common Name. 


Buttercup Family. 


Actsea alba. Bigel. 

Anemone Hepatica, L. 
Anemone nemorosa, L. 
Anemone Virginiana, L. 
Anemonella thalictroides, \ 
Spach. ) 

Aquilegia Canadensis, L. 
Caltha palustris, L. 

Clematis Virginiana, L. 
Coptis trifolia, Salisb. 
Ranunculus abortivus, L. 
Ranunculus acris, L. 
Ranunculus aquatilis, L. ) 
Var. Trichophyllus, Gray. j 
Ranunculus bulbosus, L. 
Ranunculus Pennsylvani -) 
cus, L. f. S 

Ranunculus repens, L. 


White Baneberry. 
Liverwort. 

Wood Anemone. 
Tall Anemone. 

Rue Anemone. 

Wild Columbine. 

I Cowslip or Marsh 
j Marigold, 
i Virgin’s Bower or 
I Clematis. 
Goldthread. 

I Small-flowered 
I Crowfoot. 

Tall Buttercup. 

I White Water-crow- 
} foot. 

Bulbous Crowfoot. 
Bristly Crowfoot. 
Creeping Crowfoot. 


Thalictrum dioicum, L. 


Early Meadow Rue. 


Thalictrum polygamum,Muhl. Meadow Rue. 
Thalictrum purpurascens, L. Purple Meadow Rue. 


Barberry Family. 

Berb'eris vulgaris, L. 

"Water-Lily Family. 
Brasenia peltata, Pursh. 
Nuphar advena, Ait. 
Nymphsea odorata, Ait. 


Barberry. 


Water-Shield. 
Yellow Pond-Lily. 
Water-Lily. 


Flowering. 


Locality. 


May. 

April. 
April-May. 
June-Aug. 
April. 

May. 

| May. 

| July-Aug. 
May. 

| April-June. 

May-Aug. 

| July. 
May-July. 


Woods about Blue Hill. 

( Hunt Woods, Blue Hill, 
( East Milton. 

Shady places. 

Woods and meadows. 
Woods. 

Rocky places. 

( Wet meadows,Mattapan 
• j street. 

Roadsides. 

Bogs. 

Open woods. 

Meadows and fields. 
Brooks. 

Meadows and fields. 


May-June. 

May-Aug. 

April-May. 

Aug.-Sept. 


Wet places. 

Moist, shady places. 

( Rocky woods and hill- 
) sides. 

Meadows. 

Blue Hill, etc. 


May-June. 


Everywhere. 


June-Aug. 
May-Sept. 
June-Sept. 


Ponds and streams. 
Stagnant water. 
Blue Hill River. 


Pitcher Plants. 

Barracenia purpurea, L. 


( Side-saddle flower, 
| or Pitcher Plant. 




Poppy Family. 

Chelidonium magus, L. 
Sanguinaria Canadensis, L. 

Fumitory Family. 

Corydalis glauca, Pursh. 

Mustard Family. 
Barbarea vulgaris, R. Br. 
Brassica alba , Gray. 

Cakile Americana, Nutt. 
Capsella Bursa pastoris, ) 
Moench. 5 

Cardamine hirsuta, L. 
Cardamine hirsuta, L. Var. I 
sylvatica, Gray. \ 

Lepidium Virginicum, L. 
Nasturtium Armoracia, Fries. 
Nasturtium officinale , R. Br. 
Nasturtium palustre, DC. 
Raphanus Raphanistrum, L. 
Sisymbrium officinale, Scop. 

B,ock-Bose Family. 
Helianthemum Canadense,) 
Michx. \ 

Lechea minor, Walt. 


Celandine. 

Blood-Root. 


Pale Corydalis. 


Winter Cress. 
White Mustard. 
Sea-Rocket. 
Shepherd’s Purse. 
Bitter Cress. 

Bitter Cress. 

Wild Peppergrass. 
Horse Radish. 
Water-Cress. 
Marsh-Cress. 

Wild Radish. 
Hedge Mustard. 


( Frost Weed; Rock 
j Rose. 

Pin Weed. 


May-Aug. 

April-May. 


May-July. 


May. 

June. 

July-Sept. 

April-Sept. 

May-July. 

May-July. 

June-Sept. 

May-Sept. 

May-Sept. 

June-Sept. 

August. 

May-Sept. 


June-Aug. 

June-Sept. 


Bogs, Blue Hill River. 


Waste grounds. 
Scott’s Woods. 


Rocky places. 


Randolph avenue. 

Waste places. 

Sea-side. 

Common weed. 

Wet places. 

Blue Hill summit, etc. 
Roadsides. 

Gardens and moist lands. 
Brooks and ditches. 

Wet ditches. 

A troublesome weed. 
Waste places. 


| Pastures on Randolph 
Blue Hill. 













TREES AND PLANTS. 


601 


List of Trees and Plants in Milton. — Continued. 


Botanical Name. 

Common Name. 

Flowering. 

Locality. 

Violets. 




Viola blanda, Willd. 

Sweet White Violet. 

April-May. 

Meadows, Harland street. 

Viola canina, L. Var. Muh-) 
lenbergii, Gray. ) 

Viola lanceolata, L. 

Dog Violet. 

April-May. 

Woods, Blue Hill. 

Lance-leaved Violet. 

April-June. 

Lowgrounds everywhere. 

Viola palmata, L. Var. cu- ) 
cullata, Gray. S 

Common Blue Violet. 

April-June. 

Low grounds. 

Viola pedata, L. 

Bird-foot Violet. 

May. 

( Common on Blue Hill, 

) gravelly soil. 

Viola primulifolia, L. 

Primrose-leaved Violet. 

May-July. 

Damp soil. 

Viola pubescens, Ait. 

Downy Yellow Violet. 

May-Aug. 

Low woods. 

Viola sagittata, Ait. 

Arrow-leaved Violet. 

April-May. 

Open places. 

Milkworts. 




Polygala sanguinea, L. 

Milkwort. 

July-Sept. 

Sandy and moist ground. 
Blue Hill. 

Polygala verticillata, L. 

Slender Milkwort. 

June-Oct. 

Pink Family. 




Arenaria lateriflora, L. 

Sandwort. 

June-Aug. 

Sandy waste places. 

Cerastinm viscomm, L. 

Mouse-ear Chickweed. 

May-July. 

Grassy fields and copses. 

Dianthns Armeria, L. 

Deptford Pink. 

July. 

Fields. 

Lepigonum rubrum, Pries. 

Sand Spurrey. 

July. 

Fields. 

Lepigonum salinum, Fries. 

Spurrey. 

July. 

Shore, Granite Bridge. 

Saponaria officinalis, L. 

( Soapwort, Bounc- ) 

/ ing Bet. i 

July-Sept. 

Roadsides. 

Silene antirrhina, L. 

Sleepy Catchfly. 
Bladder Campion. 

June-Sept. 

Dry soil. 

Silene inflata, 8m. 

July. 

Highland street. 

Silene noctiflora, L. 

(Night-flowering ) 

) Catchfly. ) 

July. 

Waste places. 

Spergula arvensis, L. 

Corn Spurrey. 

July. 

Grainfields. 

Stellaria borealis, Bigel. 

Northern Stitchwort. 

June-Aug. 

Shaded swamps. 

Stellaria graminea, L. 

Starwort. 

June-Aug. 

Roads and fields. 

Stellaria media, Sm. 

Common Chickweed. 

June-Aug. 

Around dwellings. 

Anychia dichotoma, Michx. 

Forked Chickweed. 

June-Aug. 

Blue Hill, dry woods. 

Sclerantbus annuus, L. 

Knawel. 

June-Aug. 

Cultivated grounds. 

Purslane. 




Portulaca oleracea, L. 

Common Purslane. 

June-Aug. 

Cultivated grounds. 

St. John’s-Worts. 




Elodea campanulata, Pursh. 

Marsh St. John’s-wort. 

July-Aug. 

Harland street, in brook. 

Hypericum Canadense, L. 

St. John’s-wort. 

June-Oct. 

Wet soil. 

Hypericum ellipticum, Hook. 

St. John’s-wort. 

July-Aug. 

Wet places. 

Hypericum maculatum, Walt. 

St. John’s-wort. 

July-Aug. 

Moist ground. 

Hypericum mutilum, L. 

St. John’s-wort. 

July-Aug. 

Low places. 

Hypericum nudicaule, Walt. 

j Orange Grass; Pine-) 

( weed. i 

July-Aug. 

Sandy fields. 

Hypericum perforatum, L. 

Common St. John’s -) 

( wort. j 

June-Sept. 

Pastures and meadows. 

Mallows. 




Malva moschata, L. 

Musk Mallow. 

July-Sept. 

Around gardens. 

Malva rotwidifolia, L. 

Common Mallow. 

July-Sept. 

Cultivated grounds. 

Linden. 




Tilia Americana, L. 

Basswood. 

June. 

Woods. 

Flax. 




Linum Virginianum, L. 

Wild Flax. 

June-Aug. 

Blue Hills, dry woods. 

Geraniums. 




Geranium maculatum, L. 

Wild Crane’s Bill. 

April-July. 

Open woods and fields. 

Geranium Robertianum, L. 

Herb Robert. 

June-Oct. 

Shady ravines. 

Impatiens fulva, Nutt. 

Balsam Weed. 

June-Oct. 

Moist places. 

Oxalis corniculata, L. Var. 1 
stricta, Sav. $ 

Yellow Wood-Sorrel. 

May-Sept. 

j Fields and cultivated 

I grounds. 

Prickly Ash. 




Xanthoxylum Americanum, ) 
Mill. j 

Northern Prickly Ash. 

May. 

Near Houghton’s Pond. 








602 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


List of Trees and Plants in Milton. — Continued. 


Botanical Name. 

Common Name. 

Flowering. 

Locality. 

Holly. 




Ilex verticillata, Gray. 

Black Alder. 

May. 

Low lands. 

Nemopanthes Canadensis, ) 
DC. 1 

Mountain Holly. 

May. 

Deep woods. 

Celastraeeae. 




Celastrus scandens, L. 

( Wax-work; Climb-) 

( ing Bitter-sweet, j 

June. 

West part of the town. 

Buckthorns. 




Ceanothus Americanus, L. 

New Jersey Tea. 

July. 

Dry woodlands. 

Rhamnus cathartica, L. 

Common Buckthorn. 

July. 

Roadsides. Rotch woods. 

Vine Family. 




Ampelopsis quinquefolia, ) 

Virginian Creeper. 

July. 

Along walls everywhere. 

Vitis aestivalis, Michx. 

Summer Grape. 
Northern Fox Grape. 

May-June. 

Thickets. 

Vitis Labrusca, L. 

June. 

Moist thickets. 

Maples. 




Acer Pennsylvanicum, L. 

Striped Maple. 

June. 

Blue Hill. 

Acer rubrum, L. 

Red or Swamp Maple. 

April. 

Swamps and woods. 

Acer saccharinum, Wangenh. 

Sugar Maple. 

April-May. 

Roadsides, introduced. 

Sumachs. 




Rhus copallina, L. 

Dwarf Sumach. 

July. 

Blue Hill. 

Rhus glabra, L. 

Smooth Sumach. 

July. 

Rocky soils. 

Rhus Toxicodendron, L. 

Poison Ivy. 


Rocks and walls. 

Rhus typhina, L. 

Staghorn Sumach. 


Hillsides. 

Rhus venenata, DC. 

J Poison Sumach; ) 

( Dog-wood. ) 

June. 

j Swamps about Blue Hill, 

( Opp. Centre School. 

Pea Family. 




Amphicarpsea rnonoica, Ell. 

Hog Peanut. 

Aug.-Sept. 

Rich woodlands. 

Apios tuberosa, Moench. 

j Groundnut; Wild ) 
f Bean. t 

August. 

{ Moist thickets, Mattapan 
\ street. 

Baptisia tinctoria, R. Br. 

Wild Indigo. 

June-Aug. 

Roadsides. 

Cassia Chamsecrista, L. 

Partridge Pea. 

August. 

Sandy Helds. 

Cassia nictitans, L. 

Partridge Pea. 

August. 

Sandy fields. 

Desmodium acuminatum, DC. 
Desmodium Canadense, DC. 

Tick-Trefoil. 

July. 

Woods about Blue Hills. 

Trefoil. 

August. 

Woods about Blue Hills - . 

Desmodium Dillenii, Dar- ) 
lington. ) 

Trefoil. 

August. 

Woods about Blue Hills. 

Desmodium Marylandicum, 1 
Boott. j 

Trefoil. 

July-Sept. 

Woods about Blue Hills. 

Desmodium nudiflorum, DC. 

Trefoil. 

August. 

Woods about Blue Hills. 

Desmodium paniculatum, DC. 

Trefoil. 

July. 

Woods about Blue Hills. 

Desmodium rotundifolium, ) 
DC. j 

Trefoil. 

August. 

Woods about Blue Hills. 

Lathyrus maritime s, Bigel. 

Beach Pea. 

June-Aug. 

Sea-coast, 

Lespedeza capitata, Michx. 

Bush Clover. 

Sept. 

Blue Hills. 

Eespedeza hirta, Ell. 

Bush Clover. 

Aug.-Sept. 

Blue Hills. 

Lespedeza'repens, Barton. 

Bush Clover. 

August. 

Blue Hills. 

Lespedeza reticulata, Pers. 

Bush Clover. 

August. 

Blue Hills. 

Lespedeza violacea, Pers. 
Medicago lupulina, L. 

Bush Clover. 

Aug.-Sept. 

Blue Hills. 

Medick. 

Aug.-Sept. 

Dry soil. 

Robinia Pseudacacia, L. 

1 Common Locust or j 
) False Acacia. i 

June. 

Centre street, introduced. 

Tephrosia Virginiana, Pers. 

Goat’s Rue; Catgut. 

June-July. 

Blue Hills. 

Trifolium agrurium, L. 

Yellow or Hop Clover. 
Rabbit-foot Clover. 

June-July. 

Sandy fields. 

Trifolium arvense, L. 

June-July. 

Fields. 

Trifolium hybridum, L. 

Hybrid Clover. 

June-July. 

Fields. 

Trifolium pratense, L. 

Red Clover. 

June-July. 

Cultivated fields. 

Trifolium repens , L. 

White Clover. 

June-July. 

Pastures. 

Yicva. sativa, L. 

Common Vetch or Tare. 

July. 

Cultivated fields. 

Bose Family. 




Agrimonia Eupatoria, L. 

Common Agrimony. 

July-Sept. 

Borders of woods. 

Amelanchier Canadensis, T. ) 
&G. | 

Shad-Bush. 

April-May. 

Woods. 










TREES AND PLANTS. 


608 


List of Trees and Peants in Milton. — Continued. 


Botanical Name. 

Common Name. 

Flowering. 

Locality. 

Crataegus coccinea, L. 
Fragaria Virginiana, Du- ) 

Scarlet-Fruited Thorn. 

May. 

Thickets. 

Strawberry. 

May-June. 

Meadows. 

Geum album, Gmel. 

White Avens. 

May-Aug. 

Hedges and thickets. 

Pirus arbutifolia, L. f. 

Choke-Berry. 

May-June. 

Damp thickets. 

Potentilla Anserina, L. 

Silver-weed. 

June-Sept. 

Salt marshes. 

Potentilla argentea, L. 

Silvery Cinque-foil. 

April-0 ct. 

Dry, barren fields. 

Potentilla Canadensis, L. 

Common Cinque-foil. 

April-Oct. 

Dry fields. 

Potentilla Canadensis, L. ) 
Far. simplex, T. & G. ( 

Cinque-foil. 

April-Oct. 

Dry fields. 

Potentilla Norvegica, L. 

Cinque-foil. 

April-Oct. 

Dry fields. 

Prunus Pennsylvanica, L. f. 

Wild Red Cherry. 

May. 

Rocky woods. 

Woods. 

Prunus serotina, Ehrh. 

Wild Black Cherry. 

May. 

Prunus Virginiana, L. 

Choke-Cherry. 

May. 

Woods and fields. 

Rosa Carolina, L. 

Rosa lucida, Ehrh. 

Rosa rubiginosa, L. 

Swamp Rose. 

Dwarf Wild-Rose. 

June-Sept. 

May-July. 

Low grounds, 

Common, dry soil. 
Roadsides, thickets. 

Sweet-Brier. 

June-Aug. 

Rubus Canadensis, B. 

j Low Black berry.) 

) Dewberry. ( 

May. 

Hills and pastures. 

Rubns hispidus, L. 

( Running Swamp 
) Blackberry. j 

June. 

Low lands. 

Rubus occidentalis, L. 

i Black Raspberry. ) 
l Thimbleberry. ( 

May. 

Blue Hills. 

Rubus strigosus, Michx. 

V ild Red Raspberry. 

May. 

About Blue Hills. 

Rubus villosus, Ait. 

(Common or High) 

) Blackberry. ( 

May. 

Borders of thickets. 

Spiraea salieifolia, L. 

j Common Meadow-) 

1 Sweet. i 

July. 

Wet grounds. 

Spiraea tomentosa, L. 

Hardhack. 

July. 

Low grounds, pastures. 

Saxifrage Family. 




Chrysosplenium American- ) 
um, Scbw. j 

Golden Saxifrage. 

April-May. 

Thatcher street. 

Ribes oxyacantboides, L. 

Gooseberry. 

May. 

Blue Hills. 

Saxifraga Pennsylvanica. L. 

Swamp Saxifrage. 

May-June. 

Bogs. 

Saxif raga Virginiensis, Michx. 

Early Saxifrage. 

April-June. 

Exposed rocks. 

Orpines. 




Penthorum sedoides, L. 

Ditch Stone-crop. 

July-Oct. 

Wet places. 

Sedum Telephium, L. 

( Garden Orpine, or ) 

( Live-for-ever. ] 

June. 

Rocks and banks. 

Sundews. 




Drosera intermedia, Drev. & 1 




Hayne. Far. Americana, > 

DC. ) 

Sundew. 

July. 

Harland-st. woods. 

Drosera rotundifolia, L. 

Round-leaved Sundew. 

July-Aug. 

Peat bogs. 

■Witch Hazel. 



f Randolph ave.; Grove 

Hamamelis Virginiana, L. 

Witch Hazel. 

October. 

< opposite Centre 
( School, etc. 

Deergrass. 




Rhexia Virginica, D. 

( Deer Grass. Mead- ) 

< ow-Beauty. j 

July. 

j Brook road, near the 
< brook. 

Lythracese. 




Nesaea verticillata, HBK. 

Swamp Loosestrife. 

July-Sept. 

Pine-tree Brook. 

Evening-Primrose 




Family. 




Circsea alpina, R. 

( Enchanter’s Night-) 

) shade. j 

July. 

Gun Hill. 

Circsea Lutetiana, L. 

( Enchanter’s Night- j 
( shade. ) 

July. 

( Moist woodlands, Gun 
) Hill. 

Epilobium coloratum, Muhl. 

Willow-Herb. 

July-Sept. 

Wet places. 

Epilobium palustre, L. Far. ) 
lineare, Gray. j 

Willow-Herb. 

July-Sept. 

Bogs. 

Epilobium spicatum, Lam. 

Willow-Herb. 

July-Sept. 

About Blue Hills. 








604 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


List of Trees and Plants in Milton. — Continued. 


Botanical Name. 


Common Name. 


Flowering. 


Locality. 


(Enothera biennis, L. 
GSnothera pnmila. L. 
Ludwigia palustris, Ell. 


Evening Primrose. 
Primrose. 

Water Purslane. 


June-Sept. 
June. 
July-0 ct. 


Everywhere. 
Dry fields. 
Ditches. 


Gourd Family. 

Echinocystis lobata, T. & Gi. 


Wild Balsam-Apple. 


July-0 ct. 


Randolph ave., etc. 


Ficoideae. 

Mollugo verticillata, L. 

Parsley Family. 

Cicuta maculata, L. 

Daucus Garota, L. 
Hydrocotyle Americana, L. 
Ligusticum Scoticum, L. 
Peucedanum sativum, 
Benth. Hook. 

Sanicula Marylandica, L. 
Sium cieutsefolium, Gmel. 


Carpet Weed. 


Spotted Cowbane. 
Common Carrot. 
Water Pennywort. 
Scotch Lovage. 
Parsnip. 

Black Snake-Root. 
Water Parsnip. 




Sandy places. 


August. 
July-Sept. 
All Summer. 
August. 


Swamps. 

Old fields. 
Borders of ponds. 
Salt marshes. 


August. 

June, 

July-Sept. 


Fields and roadsides. 
Woods and copses. 
Swamps and brooks. 


Sarsaparilla. 

Aralia hispida, Vent. 

Aralia nudicaulis, L. 

Aralia racemosa, L. 

Aralia trifolia, Dec. & Planch. 


Bristly Sarsaparilla. 
Wild Sarsaparilla. 
Spikenard. 

Dwarf Ginseng. 


May-June. 
May-June. 
July. 

April-May. 


Blue Hill range. 
Moist woodlands. 
Great Blue Hill. 
Randolph ave., etc. 


Cornels. 

Cornus alternifolia, L. f. 
Cornus circinata, L’Her. 
Cornus florida, L. 

Cornus paniculata, L’Her. 


( Alternate -1 e av e d 
I Cornel. 

Dogwood. 

Flowering Dogwood. 
Panicled Cornel. 


Cornus sericea, L. 

Nyssa multiflora, Wangenh. 


Silky Cornel. 
Tupelo; Pepperidge. 


May-June. 

May-June. 

Aprii. 


Hillsides and copses. 

Blue Hill slopes. 

About Blue Hill, 
j Randolph ave; road- 
) sides, etc. 

In wet places. 

Rich soil. 


Honeysuckle Family. 


Diervilla trifida, Moench. 
Sambucus Canadensis, L. 
Sambucus racemosa, L. 
Triosteum perfoliatum, L. 
Viburnum acerifolium, L. 


Bush Honeysuckle. 
Common Elder. 
Red-berried Elder. 
Feverwort; Horse 
Gentian. 

Maple-leaved Ar¬ 
row-wood. 


June-Aug. 

June. 

May-June. 


Viburnum dentatum, L. 
Viburnum Lentago, L. 


Arrow-wood. 
Sweet Viburnum. 


May-June. 


Blue Hills. 
Meadows. 
Blue Hills. 
Blue Hills. 
Rocky woods. 
Wet places. 
Copses. 


Madder Family. 

Cephalanthus occidentalis, L. 
Galium asprellum, Michx. 
Galium circsezans, Michx. 
Galium pilosum, Ait. 

Galium trifidum, L. 

Galium triflorum, Michx. 
Galium verum, L. 

Houstonia cserulea, L. 
Houstonia purpurea, L. Var. } 
longifolia, Gray. j 


Button Bush. 

Rough Bedstraw. 
Wild Liquorice, 
Cleavers. 

Small Bedstraw. 

\ Sweet-scented Bed- 
) straw. 

Yellow Bedstraw. 
Bluets. 

Houstonia. 


July-Aug. 

July. 

June-Aug. 

June-Aug. 

June-Aug. 

July. 

July. 

May-Aug. 

May-Aug. 


Mitchella repens, L. 


Partridgeberry. 


June-July. 


Wet places. 

Low thickets. 

Rich woods. 

Dry copses. 

Swamps. 

Rich woodlands. 

Brush Hill. 

Moist and grassy fields. 
Blue Hills. 

( Woods; about roots of 
( trees. 


Composite Family. 
Achillea millefolium, L. 
Ambrosia artemisisefolia, L. 
Anaphalis margaritacea, B. ( 
& H. 

Antennaria plantaginifolia, , 
Hook. 

Anthemis Ootula, L. 


Yarrow. 

Roman Wormwood. 
Pearly Everlasting. 

( Plantain-1 e a v e d 
) Everlasting. 
Chamomile. 


August. 
July-Sept. 
July-Sept. 
| May. 

May. 


Fields, etc. 

Waste places everywhere. 
Dry fields. 

Stertile knolls and banks. 
Fields. 









TREES AND PLANTS. 


605 


List of Trees and Plants in Milton. — Continued. 


Botanical Name. 


Common Name. 


Flowering. 


Locality. 


Arctium Lappa , Z. 
Artemisia vulgaris, L. 

Aster acuminatus, Michx. 
Aster cordifolius, L. 

Aster corymbosus, Ait. 
Aster diff'usus, Ait. 

Aster Herveyi, Gray. 

Aster laevis, L. 

Aster linariifolius, L. 

Aster macrophyllus, L. 
Aster multiflorus, Ait. 

Aster nemoralis, Ait. 

Aster Novae-Angliae, L. 
Aster Novi-Belgii, L. 

Aster paniculatus, Lam. 
Aster patens, Ait. 

Aster puniceus, L. 

Aster spectabilis, Ait. 

Aster subulatus, Michx. 
Aster umbellatus, Mill. 
Aster undulatus, L. 

Aster vimineus, Lam. 
Bidens Beckii, Torr. 

Bidens cernua, L. 

Bidens chrysanthemoides, 
Michx. 

Bidens connata, Muhl. 
Bidens frondosa, L. 
Chrysanthemum Leucanthe- 
mum. L. 


Burdock. 

Common Mugwort. 
Aster. 

Aster. 

Aster. 

Aster.’ 

Aster. 

A ster. 

Aster. 

Aster. 

Aster. 


Water-Marigold. 

Bur-Marigold. 

Bur-Marigold. 

Swamp Beggar-ticks. 
Common Beggar-ticks. 
White-weed. 


July-Oct. 

July-Oct. 

August. 

August. 

August. 

August. 

September. 

September. 

September. 

September. 

September. 

September. 

September. 

September. 

September. 

August. 

August. 

September. 

September. 

September. 

August. 

September. 

August. 

August. 


July-Sept. 

July-Sept. 

June. 


Waste places. 

Waste places. 

Blue Hills. 

Woodlands; common. 
Woodlands; common. 
Woods and fields. 

Near summit Blue Hill. 
About Blue Hill. 

Dry soil; common. 

Blue Hills. 

Sandy soil. 

Houghton’s Pond. 
Borders of woods, etc. 
Low grounds. 

W. Milton. 

Blue Hills; dry ground.' 
Low meadows. 

Blue Hill. 

Salt marsh. 

Fence rows, etc. 

Dry copses. 

Blue Hills. 

1 Neponset River, at 
I Paul’s Bridge. 

Wet places. 

Harland street. 

Wet grounds. 

Moist places. 

Fields. 


Cichorium Intybus, L. 

Cnicus arvensis, Hoffinti. 
Cnicus lanceolatus, Hoffm. 
Cnicus muticus, Pursh. 
Cnicus pumilus, Torr. 
Coreopsis trichosperma, \ 
Michx. j 

Erigeron annuus, Pers. 
Erigeron Canadensis, L. 
Erigeron Philadelphicus, L. 
Erigeron strigosus, Muhl. 
Eupatorium aromaticum, L. 
Eupatorium perfoliatum, L. 
Eupatorium purpureum, L. 
Eupatorium rotundifolium, ) 
L. Var. ovatum, Torr. ) 
Gnaphalium polycephalum, 
Michx. ( 

Gnaphalium uliginosum, L. 
Helianthus divaricatus, L. 
Hieracium Canadense, Michx. 
Hieracium paniculatum, L. 
Hieracium scabrum, Michx. 
Hieracium venosum, L. 

Iva frutescens, L. 

Krigia Virginica, Willd. 
Lactuca Canadensis, L. 
Lactuca integrifolia, Bigel. 
Leontodon autumnalis, L. 
Mikania scandens, Willd. 
Pluchea camphorata, DC. 
Prenanthes serpentaria,Pursh. 
Rudbeckia hirta, L. 

Senecio aureus, L. Var. ob -) 
ovatus, T. & G. ( 

Senecio vulgaris, L. 
Sericocarpus conyzoides,Nees. 
Sericocarpus solidagineus, \ 
Nees. | 


Cichory. 

Canada Thistle. 
Thistle. 

Swamp Thistle. 
Pasture Thistle. 
Tickseed Sunflower. 
Daisy Fleabane. 
Butter-weed. 
Fleabane. 

Daisy Fleabane. 
Thoroughwort. 
Boneset. 
Trumpet-weed. 
Thoroughwort. 
Common Everlasting. 
Low Cudweed. 
Sunflower. 

Canada Hawkweed. 
Panicled Hawkweed. 
Rough Hawkweed. 
Rattlesnake Weed. 
Marsh Elder. 

Dwarf Dandelion. 
Wild Lettuce. 

Wild Lettuce. 

Fall Dandelion. 
Climbing Hemp weed. 
Salt-Marsh Fleabane. 
Rattlesnake Root. 
Cone Flower. 

Golden Ragwort. 
Common Groundsel. 
White-topped Aster. 
White-topped Aster. 


July-Oct. 

July-Aug. 

August. 

August. 

August. 

September. 

June-Aug. 

July-Oct. 

June-Aug. 

June-Aug. 

August 

August. 

August. 

August. 

August. 

August. 

August. 

August. 

August. 

August. 

August. 

August. 

Apr.-Aug. 

July-Sept. 

July-Sept. 

Aug.-Oct. 

July-Sept. 

August. 

September. 

June-Aug. 

May-June. 

May-June. 

July. 

July. 


Roadsides. 

Cultivated fields. 

Fields. 

Swamps. 

Dry fields. 

Neponset River. 

Fields and waste places. 
Waste places. 

Moist ground. 

Fields. 

West slope of Blue Hill. 
Low grounds. 

Low grounds. 

Fowl meadows. 

Old fields. 

Roadsides. 

Blue Hills. 

Dry woods. 

Open woods. 

Open woods. 

Pine woods. 

Salt marshes. 

Dry rocky places. 

Rich soil. 

Rich soil. 

Meadows and roadsides. 
Copses. 

Marshes. 

Borders of woods. 

Rotch meadows. 

Wet meadows. 

Waste places. 

Blue Hill. 

Blue H i ll . 







606 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


List of Tkees and Plants in Milton. — Continued. 


Botanical Name. 


Common Name. 


Flowering. 


Locality. 


Solidago arguta, Ait. 

Solidago bicolor, L. 

Solidago cassia, L. 

Solidago Canadensis, L. 
Solidago juncea, Ait. 

Solidago lanceolata, L. 
Solidago nemoralis, Ait. 
Solidago odora, Ait. 

Solidago puberula, Nutt. 
Solidago rugosa, Mill. 
Solidago sempervirens, L. 
Solidago serotina, Ait. 
Solidago serotina, Ait. Var. } 
gigantea, Gray. j 

Sonchus asper, Vitt. 

Sonchus oleraceus, L. 
Tanacetum vulgare, L. 
Taraxacum officinale, Weber. 
Vernonia Noveboracensis, I 
Willd. ( 

Xanthium Canadensis, Mill. 


Golden Bod. 

White Golden Bod. 
Golden Bod. 

Golden Bod. 

Golden Bod. 

Golden Bod. 

Golden Bod. 

Sweet Golden Bod. 
Golden Bod. 

Golden Bod. 

Golden Bod. 

Golden Bod. 

Golden Bod. 

( Spiny-leaved Sow- \ 
} thistle. ) 

Common Sow-Thistle. 
Common Tansy. 
Dandelion. 

Iron-Weed. 


Common Cocklebur. 


Aug.-Oct. 

Aug.-Oct. 

Aug.-Oct. 

Aug.-Oct. 

Aug.-Oct. 

Aug.-Oct. 

Aug.-Oct. 

Aug.-Oct. 

Aug.-Oct. 

Aug.-Oct. 

Aug.-Oct. 

Aug.-Oct. 

Aug.-Oct. 

September. 

September. 

September. 

May. 

August. 

Sept.-Nov. 


Pastures, roadsides. 
Copses and banks. 

Moist woodlands. 

Fields. 

Fields. 

Biver banks. 

Dry fields, 

Granite Bridge. Blue Hill. 
About Blue Hill. 

Woods, etc. 

Salt marshes. 

Thicket and low ground. 
Copses. 


Waste places. 

Waste places. 

Boadsides. 

Fields. 

{ Neponset Biver. Pine. 
I tree Brook. 

Waste places. 


Lobelias. 

Lobelia cardinalis, L. 
Lobelia inflata, L. 
Lobelia spicata, Lam. 


Cardinal Flower. 
Indian Tobacco. 
Lobelia. 


July-0 ct. 
July-Oct. 
July-Aug. 


Harland street. 
Dry open soil. 
Dry grounds. 


BeHflowers. 


Campanula aparinoides, ) 
Pursh. i 

Specularia perfoliata, A. DC. 


Marsh Bellflower. 
Venus Looking-glass. 


July. 

May-Aug. 


Low grassy places. 
Blue Hills. 


Heath Family. 

Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi, f 
Spreng. ] 

Andromeda ligustrina, Muhl. 
Cassandra calyculata, Don. 
Chimaphila umbellata, Nutt. 
Clethra alnifolia, L. 
Gaultheria procumbens, L. 
Gaylussacia frondosa, T. & G. 
Gaylussacia resinosa, T. & G. 
Kalmia angustifolia, L. 
Kalmia latifolia, L. 

Leucothoe racemosa, Gray. 
Monotropa uniflora, L. 

Pyrola elliptica, Nutt. 

Pyrola rotundifolia, L. 
Bhododendron Bhodora, } 
Gmelin. j 

Bhododendron viscosum, j 
Torr. | 

Vaccinium corymbosum, L. 
Vaccinium macrocarpon, Ait. 
Vaccinium Pennsylvanicum, | 

Vaccinium vacillans. Solan. 


Bearberry. 




Andromeda. 

Leather-Leaf. 

Prince’s Pine. 

White Alder. 
Checkerberry. 
Dangleberry. 

Common Huckleberry. 
Sheep Laurel. 
Mountain Laurel. 
Leucothoe. 

Indian Pipe. 

Shin-Leaf. 

Bound-leaf Pyrola. 


June-July. 

August. 

June. 

July-Aug. 

July. 

May-June. 

May-June. 

May-July. 

May-June. 

May-June. 

July. 

June. 

June-July. 


Bhodora. 


May. 


Clammy Azalea. 

( Common Swamp 
) Blueberry. 
Cranberry. 

Dwarf Blueberry. 
Low Blueberry. 




Top of Blue Hill. 

Woods. 

Houghton’s Pond. 

Dry woods. 

Wet copses. 

Damp woods. 

Low copses. 

Near Houghton’s Pond. 
Woods. 

Church land? 

Blue Hill. 

Harland street, etc. 

Bich woods. 

Damp woods, 
j NearMr. Hinckley’s,and 
j near Houghton’s Pond. 
Swamps. 


Low lands. 

Blue Hills. 
Blue Hills. 


Rosemary. 

Statice Limonium, L. Var. > 
Caroliniana, Gray. j 


Marsh-Bosemary. 


Aug.-Sept. 


Salt marsh. 


Primrose Family. 
Hottonia inflata, Ell. 
Lysimachia quadrifolia, L. 
Lysimachia stricta, Ait. 
Steironema lanceolata, Gray. 
Trientalis Americana, Pursh. 


Featherfoil. 

Loosestrife. 

Loosestrife. 

Loosestrife. 

Starflower. 


June-Aug. 

June-Aug. 

May. 


Pools and ditches. 
Sandy soil. 

Low ground. 

Low ground. 









TREES AND PLANTS. 


607 


List of Trees and Plants in Milton. — Continued. 


Botanical Name. 

Common Name. 

Flowering. 

Locality. 

Ash. 




Fraxinus Americana, L. 

White Ash. 

April-May. 

Woods. 

Dogbane. 




Apocynum androssemifoli- ) 
um, L. i 

Spreading Dogbane. 

Jim e-July. 

Thickets. 

Milkweeds. 




Asclepias Cornnti, Decaisne. 

Common Milkweed. 

July. 

Fields. 

Asclepias incarnata, L. Var. j 
pnlchra, Pers. ) 

Swamp Milkweed. 

July. 

Meadows. 

Asclepias phytolaccoides, j 
Pursh. ( 

Poke Milkweed. 

June. 

Wet woods. 

Asclepias purpurascens, L. 

Purple Milkwerd. 

June. 

Randolph ave. 

Asclepias quadrifolia, L. 

Four-leaved Milkweed. 

June. 

Blue Hills. 

Gentian Family. 



( Meadows near the Ne- 
) ponset. 

G-entiana crinita, Frcel. 

Fringed Gentian. 

September. 

Limnantliemum lacunosum, ) 
Griseb. J 

Floating Heart. 

Jun e-Sept. 

Ponds. 

Menyanthes trifoliata, L. 

Buck Bean. 

May-June. 

( Opp.Centre School h’se. 

1 Houghton’s Pond. 

Borage Family. 




Echinospermnm Virgini- j 

Stickseed. 

July. 

Waste places. 

Myosotis laxa, Lehm. 

Forget-me-not. 

May-Aug. 

Central ave. 

Myosotis verna, Nutt. 

White Forget-me-not. 

May-Aug. 

Reedsdale road. 

Symphytum officinale, L. 

Common Comfrey. 

June. 

Near Dr. Ware’s house. 

Convolvulus Family. 

Convolvulus arvensis, L. 

Bindweed. 

June. 

Fields. 

Convolvulus sepium,L. Var. ) 
Ameiicanus, Sims. J 

Hedge Bindweed. 

June-July. 

Moist grounds. 

Cuscuta Gronovii, Willd. 

Dodder. 

Aug.-Oct. 

Damp grounds. 

Nightshade Family. 




Datura Tatula, L. 

Lycium vulgare, Dunal. 

Common Stramonium. 

July-Sept. 

Waste places. 

Matrimony vine. 

Aug.-Sept. 

Cultivated grounds. 

Solanum Dulcamara, L. 

Bitter-sweet, 

July-Aug. 

■Around dwellings. 

Figwort Family. 




Chelone glabra, L. 

Snakehead. 

July-Sept. 

Wet places. 

Gerardia flava, L. 

I >owny False Foxglove. 

August. 

Blue Hills. 

G-erardia maritima, Raf. 

Seaside Gerardia. 

August. 

Salt marsh. 

Gerardia pediculaiia, L. 

Gerardia. 

August. 

Dry woods. 

Gerardia purpurea, L. 

Purple Geradia. 

August. 

Dry woods. 

Gerardia quercifolia, Pursh. 

Smooth False Foxglove. 

August. 

Blue Hill. 

Gerardia tenuifolia, Vahl. 

Slend. r Gerardia. 

August. 

Blue Hill. 

Gratiola aurea, Muhl. 

Hedge-Hyssop. 

June-Sept. 

Neponset River. 

Linaria Canadensis, Dumont. 

Wild Toad-Flax. 

June-Aug. 

Sandy soil. 

Linaria vulgarix, Mill. 

Butter-and-Eggs. 

August. 

Everywhere. 

Melampyrum Americanum, ) 
Michx. j 

Cow-Wheat. 

June-Sept. 

Open woods. 

Mimulus ringens, L. 

Monkey-Flower. 

July-Sept. 

Wet places. 

Pedicularis Canadensis, L. 

Common Lousewort. 

May-July. 

Blue Hill. 

Yerbascum Thapxu*, L. 

Common .VI ullein. 

September. 

Fields. 

Veronica arvennis, L. 

Corn Speedwell. 

May. 

Fields. 

Veronica peregrina, L. 

Neck U'eed. 

May. 

Waste grounds. 

Veronica scutellata, B. 

Marsh Speedwell. 

June-Aug. 

Bogs. 

Veronica serpyllifolia, L. 

(Thyme-leaved { 

/ Speedwell. ( 

May-July. 

Roadsides. 

Broom-rape Family. 
Aphyllon uniflorum, Gray. 

| One-flowered Can- j 

April-May. 

Woods. 

Epiphegus Virginiana, Bart. 

Beech Drops. 

Aug.-Oct. 

1 Blue Hill; under beech- 
/ trees. 







608 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


List of Trees and Plants in Milton. — Continued. 


Botanical Name. 

Common Name. 

Flowering. 

Locality. 

Verbenas. 




Verbena hastata, L. 

Verbena nrticsefolia, L. 

Blue Vervain. 

July-Sept. 

Low grounds. 

White Vervain. 

July-Sept. 

Roadsides. 

Mint Family. 




Brunella vulgaris, L. 

Self-heal. 

June-Sept. 

Woods and fields. 

Galeopsis Tetrahit, L. 

Common Hemp-nettle. 

August. 

Waste places. 

Hedeoma pulegioides, Pers. 

American Pennyroyal. 

July-Sept. 

Fields. 

Lamium amplexicaule, L. 

Dead Nettle. 

August. 

Cultivated ground. 

Leonurus Cardiacn, L. 

Common Motherwort. 

July-Sept. 

Near dwellings. 

Lycopus sinuatus, Ell. 
Lycopus Virginicus, L. 

Water Horehound. 

July-Aug. 

Wet grounds. 

Bugle-Weed. 

August. 

Shady wet places. 

Mentha Canadensis, L. 

Wild Mint. 

July-Sept. 

Shady wet places. 

Mentha viridi- s‘, X. 

Spearmint. 

July. 

Shady wet places. 

Nepeta Gataria, L. / 


July-Aug. 

Cultivated grounds. 

Nepeta Glechoma, Benth. 

Ground Ivy. 

May-Aug. 

Near dwellings. 

Pycnanthemum incanum, ) 

Mountain Mint. 

August. 

Blue Hill. 

Pycnanthemum linifolium, ) 

Mountain Mint. 

July-Sept. 

Blue Hill. 

Pycnanthemum muticum, > 

Mountain Mint. 

August. 

Blue Hill. 

Scutellaria galericulata, L. 

Scullcap. 

August. 

Wet places. 

Scutellaria lateriflora, L. 

Mad-dog Scullcap. 

August. 

Wet places. 

Paul’s Bridge. 

Stachys aspera, Michx. 

Hedge Nettle. 

July. 

Trichostema dichotomum, L. 

Blue Curls. 

July-Sept. 

About Houghton’s Pond. 

Plantains. 




Plantago lanceolata, L. 

English Plantain. 

April-June. 

Fields. 

Plantago major, L. 

Plantago Rugelii, Decaisne. 

Common Plantain. 

June-Sept. 

Moist places. 

Plantain. 

June-Sept. 

Moist places. 

Amaranths. 




Acnida cannabina, L. 

Water Hemp. 

July-Oct. 

Salt marshes. 

Amarantus albus, L. 

Amaranth. 

July. 

Roadsides. 

Goosefoot Family. 

Atriplex arenaria, Nutt. 

Orache. 

August. 

Granite Bridge. 

Atriplex patula, L. Vur. 1 
hastata, Gray. ( 

Orache. 

August. 

Granite Bridge. 

Chenopodium album, L. 

Pigweed. 

August. 

Waste places. 

Pokeweed. 




Phytolacca decandra, L. 

Garget. 

July-Sept. 

Woods. 

Buckwheat Family. 




Eagopyrum esculentum, ) 
Moench. i 

Buckwheat. 

June-Sept. 

Old fields. 

Polygonum acre, HBK. 

Wild Smart-weed. 

August. 

Wet places. 

Polygonum arifolium, L. 

(Halberd-leaved \ 

1 Tear-thumb. ) 

August. 

Low grounds. 

Polygonum aviculare, L. 

Door-weed. 

August. 

Waste places. 

Polygonum Convolvulus, L. 

Black Bind-weed. 

July-Aug. 

Granite Bridge. 

Polygonum Ilydropiper, L. 

Smart-weed. 

August. 

Wet places. 

Polygonum hydropipe - \ 
roides, Michx. \ 

Mild Water-pepper. 

August. 

Wet places. 

Polygonum incarnatum, Ell. 

Persicaria. 

August. 

Aug.-Sept. 

Wet places. 

Polygonum orientate, L. 
Polygonum Pennsylvani- j 

Prince’s Feather. 

Waste grounds. 

Persicaria. 

July-Oct. 

Moist places. 

Polygonum Persicaria, L. 

Lady’s Thumb. 

August. 

Moist places. 

Polygonum ramosissimum, ) 
Michx. i 

Goose-Grass. 

Aug-Oct. 

Granite Bridge. 

Polygonum sagittatum, L. 

(Arrow-leaved 1 

/ Tear-thumb. ) 

July-Sept. 

Low grounds. 

Polygonum tenue, Michx. 

Slender Knot-Grass. 

July-Sept. 

Dry soil. 

Iiumex Acetosella, L. 

Sheep Sorrel. 


Weed in fields. 

Kumex crispus, L. 

Curled Dock. 

July. 

Waste grounds. 












TREES AND PLANTS. 


609 


List of Trees and Plants in Milton. — Continued. 


Botanical Name. 

Common Name. 

Flowering. 

Locality. 

Laurel Family. 




Lindera Benzoin, Meisn. 

Fever-bush. 

April. 

Damp woods. 

Sassafras officinale, Nees. 

Sassafras. 

April. 

About Blue Hills. 

Santalaceae. 




Comandra umbellata, Nutt. 

Bastard Toad-flax. 

May-June. 

About Blue Hills. 

Spurge. 




Acalypha Virginica, L. 

Three-seeded Mercury. 

July-Sept. 

Fields. 

Euphorbia Gyparissias, L. 

Cypress Spurge. 

June. 

Roadsides. 

Euphorbia maculata, L. 

Spotted Spurge. 

June. 

Waste places. 

"Water Starworts. 




Callitriche verna, L. 

Water-Star wort. 

May-Aug. 

Shallow Water. 

Nettle Family. 




Celtis occidentalis, L. 

Sugarberry. 

April-May. 

Woods. 

Ulmus Americana, L. 

American Elm. 


Woods and roadsides. 

Urtiea dioica, L. 

Great Stinging-Nettle. 

Jun e-Aug. 

Roadsides. 

Plane-tree. 




Platanus occidentalis, L. 

American Sycamore. 

May. 

Randolph ave., etc. 

Walnut Family. 




Carya alba, Nutt. 

Shell-bark Hickory. 

May. 

Woods. 

Carya amara, Nutt. 

Bitternut. 

May. 

Woods, Blue Hill. 

Carya porcina, Nutt. 


May. 

Woods, Blue Hill. 

Juglans cinerea, L. 

Butternut. 

May. 

( Scott’s Woods road; 

( rich woods. 

Sweet-G-ale Family. 

Comptonia asplenifolia, Ait. 

Sweet Fern. 

April-May. 

Sterile hills. 

Myrica cerifera, L. 

Bayberry. 

May. 

Sandy soil. 

Birch Family. 




Alnus serrulata, Willd. 

Smooth Alder. 

May. 

Roadsides. 

Betula alba Var. populi- / 
folia, Spach. J 

White Birch. 

May. 

Abundant in poor soil. 

Betula lenta, L. 

Black Birch. 

May. 

Blue Hill; moist woods. 

Betula lutea, Michx. f. 

Yellow Birch. 

May. 

Moist woods. 

Oak Family. 




Carpinus Americana, Lam. 

Water Beech. 

May. 

Along streams. 

Oastanea vesca, L. Var. ) 
Americana, Mx. \ 

Chestnut. 

June-July. 

Woods; common. 

Corylus Americana, Walt. 

Hazelnut. 

May. 

Thickets. 

Fagus ferruginea, Ait. 

American Beech. 

May. 

Woods. 

Ostrya Virginica, Willd. 

Hop-Hornbeam. 

May. 

Woods. 

Quercus alba, L. 

White Oak. 


Woods. 

Quercus bicolor, Willd. 

Swamp White Oak. 


Low places. 

Quercus coccinea, Wang. 

Scarlet Oak 


Rich woods. 

Quercus ilicifolia, Wang. 

Black Scruh-Oak. 

May. 

About and on Blue Hills. 

Quercus prinoides, Willd. 

Dwarf Chestnut Oak. 


About and on Blue Hills. 

Quercus Prinus, L. 

Chestnut Oak. 


Base of Blue Hills. 

Quercus rubra, L. 

Red Oak. 


Rocky woods 

Quercus tinctoria, Bartr. 

Black Oak. 

May. 

Dry woods. 

Willow Family. 




Populus balsamifera, L. ) 
Var. candicans, Gray. \ 

Balm of Gilead. 

April. 

Introduced. 

Populusgrandidentata, Michx. 

Large-toothed Aspen. 

April. 

Woods. 

Populus tremuloides, Michx. 
Salix alba, L. 

American Aspen. 

April. 

Woods. 

White Willow. 

April. 

Introduced. 

Salix discolor, Muhl. 

Salix fro gills, L. 

Glaucous Willow. 

April. 

Meadows. 

Brittle Willow. 

May. 

Neponset River. 

Salix humilis, Muhl. 

Low-bush Willow. 


Roadsides. 

Pine Family. 




Juniperus Virgiuiana, L. 

Red Cedar. 

April. 

Dry hills. 

Larix Americana, Michx. 

American Larch. 

April, 

Swamps. 








610 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


List of Trees and Plants in Milton. — Continued. 


Botanical Name. 

Common Name. 

Flowering. 

Locality. 

Pinus rigida, Mill. 

Pitch Pine. 

May. 

Sandy soil. 

Pinus Strobus, L. 

White Pine. 

May. 

Damp woods. 

Tsuga Canadensis, Carr. 

Hemlock. 

May. 

Rich woods; scarce. 

Orchids. 




Arethnsa bulbosa, L. 

Arethusa. 

May. 

J Blue Hill River and 

1 Harland street. 

Calopogon pulchellus, R. Br. 

Calopogon. 

July. 

Near Houghton’s Pond. 

Corallorhiza multiflora, Nutt. 

Coral-root. 

July-Sept. 

Woods. 

Cypripedium acaule, Ait. 

Lady’s Slipper. 


Pine woods, Brook road. 

Goodyera pubescens, R. Br. 

Rattlesnake Plantain. 

July-Aug. 

Rich woods. 

Habenaria fimbriata, R. Br. 

1 Large Purple- 1 

I fringed Orchis. j 

June. 

Wet meadows. 

Habenaria psycbodes, Gray. 

Small Purple- 

July-Aug. 

Wet meadows. 

Habenaria tridentata, Hook. 

Naked-gland Orchis. 

July. 

| Springy places. Wet 

Liparis Loeselii, Richard. 

Twayblade. 

June. 

Bogs. 

Pogonia ophioglossoides, > 
Nutt. S 

Pogonia. 

July. 

t Blue Hill River. Har- 
( land street. 

Pogonia verticillata, Nutt. 

Whorled Pogonia. 

June. 

i Damp woods in the Blue 
j Hills. 

Spiranthes cernua, Richard. 

Ladies’ Tresses. 

Aug.-Oct. 

Wet grassy places, and 

1 on Blue Hill. 

Spiranthes gracilis, Bigel. 

Ladies’ Tresses. 

July-Aug. 

Hilly woods. 

Iris Family. 




Iris versicolor, L. 

Larger Blue Flag. 

May-June. 

Meadows. 

Sisyrinchium anceps, L. 

Blue-eyed Grass. 

June-Aug. 

Meadows. 

Sisyrinchium mucronatum, > 
Michx. ) 

Blue-eyed Grass. 

June-Aug. 

Meadows. 

Hypoxys erecta, L. 

Star-Grass. 

June-Aug. 

Meadows. 

Lily Family. 




Allium Canadense, Kalm. 

Wild Meadow Garlic. 

May-June. 

( Near Dr. Ware’s, Lower 
j Mills. 

Asparagus officinalis*, L. 

Garden Asparagus. 

June. 

Granite Bridge. 

Erythronium Americanum, ) 
Smith. ( 

Dog-tooth Violet. 

May. 

Blue Hill; scarce. 

Lilium Canadense, L. 

Lilium Philadelphicum, L. 

Wild Yellow Lily. 

June-July. 

Mattapan st. & elsewhere. 

Wild Orange-Red Lily. 

June-July. 

Fields. 

Maianthemum bifolium, DC. 

False Solomon’s Seal. 

May. 

Moist woods; common. 

Medeola Virginiana, E. 

Indian Cucumber-Root. 

June. 

5 Blue Hill, etc., rich, 

1 damp woods. 

Polygonatum biflorum, Ell. 

( Smaller Solomon’s j 
) Seal. j 

June. 

Wooded banks. 

Smilacina racemosa, Desf. 

False Spikenard. 

June. 

Moist copses. 

Smilax glauca, Walt. 

Greenbrier. 

July. 

Hillside street. 

Smilax herbacea, L. 

Smilax rotundifolia, L. 

Carrion-Flower. 

June. 

Moist meadows. 

Common Greenbrier. 

June. 

Thickets. 

Trillium cernuum, L. 

Nodding Trillium. 

May. 

( Thatcher street,White’s 
j pasture, etc. 

Uvularia sessilifolia, L. 

Bellwort. 

May. 

Woods. 

Pickerel-weed. 




Pontederia cordata, E. 

Pickerel-weed. 

July-Sept. 

Neponset River, etc. 

Rushes. 




Juncus acuminatus, Michx. 

Rush. 

July. 

Borders of ponds. 

Juncus bufonius, E. 

Rush. 

July. 

Common. 

Juncus Canadensis, J. Gay. 


July. 

Common. 

Juncus effusus, L. 

Common Rush. 

July. 

Marshy ground. 

Juncus Gerardi, Lois. 

Black Grass. 

July. 

Salt marshes. 

Juncus tenuis, Willd. 


July. 

Common. 

Luzula campestris, DC. 

Wood-rush. 

May. 

Woods. 

Cat-tail Family. 




Sparganium simplex Hud- j 
son. Var. Nuttallii, Gray. j 

Burr-reed. 

July-Sept. 

Along streams. 

Typha latifolia, L. 

Common Cat-tail. 

July. 

Borders of ponds. 









TREES AND PLANTS. 


611 


List of Trees and Plants in Milto,n. — Continued. 


Botanical Name. 

Common Name. 

Flowering. 

Locality. 

Arums. 




Acorus Calamus, L. 

Sweet Flag. 

June. 

Borders of ponds. 

Arisaema triphyllum, Torr. 

Indian Turnip. 

May. 

Common. 

Calla palustris, L. 

Water Arum. 

June. 

Cold bogs. 

Peltandra Virginica, Raf. 

Arrow Arum. 

June. 

Brook, Thatcher street. 

Symploearpus f ce t i d u s , ) 
Salisb. ] 

Skunk Cabbage. 

April. 

Moist places. 

Duckweeds. 




Lemna minor, L. 

Duckweed. 

August. 

Water; common. 

W ater-Plantains. 




Alisma Plantago, L. Var. / 
Americanum, Gray. \ 

Water Plantain. 

July-Aug. 

Ditches. 

Sagittaria graminea, Pursh. 

Arrow-head. 

August. 

( Neponset River, Paul’s 
/ Bridge. 

Sagittaria variabilis, Eng. 

Arrow-head. 

August. 

Wet places. 

Pondweeds. 




Potamogeton Claytonii, j 
Tuckerm. | 

Pond weed. 

August. 

Ponds. 

Potamogeton natans, L. 

Pondweed. 

August. 

Ponds. 

Pipewort. 




Eriocaulon septangulare, ) 
With. ( 

Pipewort. 

August. 

Ponds. 

Sedges. 




Carex bullata, Schk. 

Sedge. 

June. 

Meadows. 

Carex cephalophora, Mubl. 

Sedge. 

June. 

Woods. 

Carex conoidea, Schk. 

Sedge. 

June. 

Moist meadows. 

Carex crinita, Lam. 


July. 

Moist meadows. 

Carex debilis, Michx. 

Sedge. 

June. 

Moist woods. 

Carex echinata, Murr. 

Sedge. 

June. 

Moist woods. 

Carex folliculata, L. 

Sedge. 


Bogs. 

Carex graciilima, Schw. 

Sedge. 

June. 

Moist woods. 

Carex intumescens, Rndge. 


June. 

Wet meadows. 

Carex laxiflora, Lam. 

Sedge. 

June. 

Open woods. 

Carex lurida, Wahl. 

Sedge. 

June. 

Swamps. 

Carex pallescens, L. 

Sedge. 


Meadows. 

Carex panicea , L. 

Sedge. 

June. 

Dr. Kennedy’s. 

Carex Pennsylvania, Lam. 

Sedge. 

June. 

Dry woods; common. 

Carex polytrichoides, Muhl. 

8edge. 

June. 

Low grounds. 

Carex Psendo-Cyperus, L. ) 
Var. comosa, W. Boott. ) 

Sedge. 

June. 

Wet places. 

Carex scoparia, Schk. 

Sedge. 


Low meadows. 

Carex sparganioides, Muhl. 

Sedge. 


Blue Hill. 

Carex stipata, Muhl. 

Sedge. 

June. 

Swamps. 

Carex straminea, Schk. 

Sedge. 

June. 

Fields. 

Carex stricta, Lam. 

Sedge. 

June. 

1 “ Hassocks ” in wet 
j meadows. 

Carex tentaculata, Muhl. 

Sedge. 

June. 

Wet meadows. 

Carex vestita, Willd. 

Sedge. 

June. 

( Granite Bridge; sandy 
j soils. 

Carex virescens, Muhl. 

Sedge. 

June. 

j Blue Hills; rocky 
} woods. 

Carex vulpinoidea, Michx. 


June. 

Low meadows. 

Cyperus dentatus, Torr. 

G-alingale. 

August. 

Sandy swamps. 

Cyperus diandrus, Torr. 

Galingale. 

August. 

Low grounds. 

Cyperus strigosus, L. 
Dulichium spathaceum, Pers. 

Galingale. 

July-Sept. 

Common'. 

Dulichium. 

July-Sept. 

Borders of ponds. 

Eleocharis palustris, R. Br. 

Spike-rush. 

July-Sept. 

Low grounds, 

Pimbristylis capillaris, Gray. 
Scirpus Eriophorum, Michx. 

Aug.-Sept. 

Sandy fields. 

Wool-grass. 

July-Sept. 

Wet meadows. 

Scirpus lacustris, L. 

Scirpus maritimus,.L. 

Bulrush. 

Sea Club-rush. 

July. 

August. 

Fresh-water ponds. 

1 Granite Bridge; salt 
j marshes. 

Scirpus pungens, Vahl. 

Bulrush. 

July-Aug. 

Borders of ponds. 

Scirpus subterminalis, Torr. 

Bulrush. 

August. 

Ponds. 









612 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


List op Trees and Peants in Milton. — Continued. 


Botanical Name. 


Common Name. 


Flowering. 


Locality. 


Grasses. 


Agropyrum repens, L. 
Agrostis alba, L. Var. stolo -) 
nifera, Vasey. ( 

Agrostis alba, L. Var. vul-) 
garis, Thurb. ) 

Agrostis canina, L. 

Agrostis perennans, Tuck. 
Agrostis scabra, Willd. 
Alopecurus geniculatus, L. 
Alopecurus pratensis, L. 
Andropogon dissitifLorus, 1 
Michx. ( 

Andropogon provincialis, j 

Andropogon scoparius,Michx. 
Anthoxanthum odoratum, L. 
Chrysopogonnutans, Benth. 
Cinna arundinacca, L. 
Dactylis glomerata, L. 
Danthonia spi( ata, Beauv. 
Deschampsiaflexuosa, G-riseb. 
Deyeuxia Canadensis, Hook. 
Deyeuxia Nuttalliana, Vasey. 
Distichlis maritima, Raf. 
Batonia Pennsylvania, Gray. 
Festuca nutans, Willd. 
Festuca ovina, L. 

Glyceria Canadensis, Trin. 
Glyceria fluitans, R. Br. 
Glyceria maritima, Wahl. 
Glyceria nervata, Trin. 
Glyceria obtusa, Trin. 
Hierochloa borealis, R. & 8. 
Holcus lanatus, L. 

Leersia oryzoides, Swartz. 


Twitch-grass. 

Fiorin Grass. 
Red-top. 

Brown Bent-grass. 

Thin-grass. 

Hair-grass. 

Floating Fox-tail. 
Meadow Fox-tail. 
Beard-grass. 
Beard-grass. 
Beard-grass. 

| Sweet-scented Ver- 
/ nal Grass. 

Indian Grass. 

Wood Reed-grass. 
Orchard Grass. 

Wild Oat-grass. 
Common Hair-grass. 
Reed-grass. 
Reed-grass. 

Spike-grass. 

Reboulea. 

Fescue-grass. 

Sheep’s Fescue-grass. 
Rattle-snake Grass. 
Rattle-snake Grass. 
Sea Spear-grass. 
Rattle-snake Grass. 
Rattle-snake Grass. 
Holy Grass. 
Velvet-grass. 

Rice Cut-grass. 


June-Aug. 

August. 


August. 
August. 
July-Aug. 
June-July. 
July-Aug. 
May. 

July-Sept. 


July-Sept. 

July-Sept. 

May-July. 

August. 

July-Aug. 

June. 

July. 

June. 

July. 

July. 

August. 

June. 

July. 

July. 

July. 

June-Aug. 

June-Aug. 

August. 

May. 


Leersia Virginica, Willd. 
Muhlenbergia sobolifera, 1 
Trin. j 

Muhlenbergia sylvatica, T. j 

Muhlenbergia Willdenovii, / 
Trin. ( 

Panicum agrostoides, Muhl. 
Panicum capillare, L. 
Panicum clandestinum, L. 
Panicum crus-galli, L 
Panicum depauperatum, ) 
Muhi. j 

Panicum dichotomum, L. 
Panicum latifolium, L. 
Panicum sanguinale, L. 
Panicum virgatum, L. 
Phalaris arundinacea, L. 
Phleum pratense, L. 

Poa annua, L. 

Poa pratensis, L. 

Poa serotina, Ehrh. 

Setaria glauca, Beauv. 
Setaria viridis, Beauv. 
Spartina juncea, Willd. 
Spartina stricta, Roth. Var. j 
alterniflora, Gray. j 

Spartina stricta, Roth. Var. ) 
glabra, Gray. j 

Stipa avenacea, Linn. 

Zizania aquatica, L. 


White Grass. 
Drop-seed Grass. 
Drop-seed Grass. 
Drop-seed Grass. 
Panic-grass. 
Panic-grass. 
Panic-grass. 

Barn-yard Grass. 
Panic-grass. 
Panic-grass. 
Panic-grass. 

Common Crab-grass. 
Panic-grass. 

Reed Canary-grass. 
Timothy. Herds-grasf 
Low Spear-grass. 

| Common Meadow- 
) grass. 

False Red-top. 
Fox-tail. 

Bottle-grass. 

Rush Salt-grass. 

Marsh-grass. 

Marsh-grass. 

Black Oat-grass. 
Indian Rice. 


Aug.-Sept. 

August. 

Aug -Sept. 

Aug.-Sept. 

August. 

Aug.-Sept. 

July-Sept. 

Aug.-Oct. 

June. 

June-Aug. 

June-Aug. 

June-Aug. 

August. 

August. 

Aprii-Oct. 

May-July. 

July-Aug. 

July-Aug. 

July-Aug. 

August. 

August. 

August. 

July. 

August. 


Meadows. 

Moist meadows. 

Low meadows. 

Low meadows. 

Shady places. 

Shady places. 

Wet meadows. 

Pastures. 

Sandy soil. 

Sandy soil. 

Common in poor soil. 
Pastures. 

Blue Hill. 

Moist woods. 

Shaded fields. 

Dry soil. 

Blue Hills. 

Neponset River. 

Fowl meadows, etc. 

Salt marshes. 

Moist woods. 

Rocky woods. 

Rocky woods. 

Wet places. 

Shallow water. 

Salt marshes. 

Moist meadows. 

Bogs. 

Marshes. 

Meadows. 

Wet places. 

j Lower Mills, Neponset 
Open woods. 

Blue Hill. 

Base of Blue Hill. 

Wet meadows. 

Sandy soil. 

Low thickets. 

Barn-yards. 

Dry woods. 

Dry woods. 

M oist thickets. 

Yards. 

Moist soil. 

Neponset River. 
Meadows. 

Waste grounds. 

Dry soil. 

Wet meadows. 

Barn-yards. 

Cultivated grounds. 

Salt marshes. 

Salt marshes. 

Salt marshes. 

West slope of Blue Hill. 
Neponset River. 









TREES AND PLANTS. 


613 


List of Trees and Plants in Milton. — Concluded. 


Botanical Name. 

Common Name. 

Flowering. 

Locality. 

Horse-tails. 




Equisetum arvense, L. 

Horse-tail. 

April. 

Common. 

Equisetum limosum, L. 

Horse-tail. 


Shallow water. 

Equisetum sylvaticum, L. 

Ferns. 

Botryehium ternatum, 1 
Swartz. Var. obliquum, > 

Horse-tail. 

May. 

Wet places. 

Moonwort. 

July. 

Dry woods. 

Milde. ) 


Ophioglossum yulgatum, L. 

Adder’s Tongue. 

June. 

j Meadows near Paul’s 
( Bridge. 

Adiantum pedatum, E. 

Maiden-hair Eern. 

July. 

i The old Lewis Tucker 
) place. 

Aspidium acrostichoides, / 
Swartz. ) 

Wood-Eern. 

July. 

( Rocky woods; Blue 

1 Hills. 

Aspidium cristatum, Swartz. 
Aspidium marginale, Swartz. 

Wood-Eern. 

July. 

Swamps. 

Shield-Eern. 

July. 

Rocky hillsides. 

Aspidium Noveboracense, 1 
Swartz. ( 

Wood-Fern. 

July. 

Swamps. 

Aspidium spinulosum, j 




Swartz. Var. intermedi- \ 

Wood-Eern. 

July. 

Woods everywhere. 

um, Eaton. ) 


Aspidium Thelypt e ris, j 

Swartz. ( 

Wood-Eern. 

August. 

Meadows. 

Asplenium ebeneum, Ait. 

Spleenwort. 

July. 

Blue Hills. 

Asplenium Eilix-foemina, ) 
Bernb. \ 

Spleenwort. 

July. 

Moist woods. 

Asplenium Eilix-foemina,) 




Bernh. Var. angustum, ! 
Eaton. ) 

Spleenwort. 

October. 

Rich woods. 

Asplenium thelypteroides, ) 
Michx. ( 

Spleenwort. 

July-Sept. 

About Blue Hills; scarce. 

Asplenium Trichomanes, L. 

Spleenwort. 

July. 

( Blue Hills; shaded 

j cliffs. 

Dicksonia pilosiuscula, Willd. 

Dicksonia. 

July. 

Moist places. 

Onoclea sensibilis, L. 

Sensitive Fern. 

July. 

Moist places. 

Osmunda cinnamomea, E. 
Osmunda Claytoniana, L. 

Cinnamon Eern. 

May. 

Moist places. 

Flowering Eern. 


Moist places. 

Osmunda regalis, L. 

Flowering Fern. 


Moist places. 

Phegopteris hexagonoptera,) 
Fee. j 

Beech Fern . 

July. 

Open woods; scarce. 

Polyp odium vulgare, L. 

Polypody. 

July. 

Rocks. 

Pteris aquilina, L. 

Common Brake. 

August. 

Hills. 

Club-Mosses. 




Lycopodium complanatum, L. 

Club-Moss. 


Woods. 

Lycopodium dendroideum, 1 
Michx. j 

G-round-Pine. 

August. 

Moist woods. 

Lycopodium lucidulum, / 

Michx. j 

Club-Moss. 

August. 

Blue Hills. 

Selaginella rupestris, Spring. 

Gray-Moss. 


Dry rocks. 








614 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


TREES OF MILTON. 

“ The waving verdure rolls along the plain, 
And the wide forest weaves, 

To welcome back its playful mates again, 
A canopy of leaves. 

And from its darkened shadow floats 
A gush of trembling notes.” 

Pjercival. 


One of the most attractive features in the outward aspect of 
Milton is the abundance of its trees and shrubs. 

There are few if any parts of its long avenues where nature 
has not provided, or the hand of taste placed, on each side, either 
the native or the Dutch Elm, the Rock Maple, or some of the 
evergreens from the hills, or rarer specimens from other lands. 
On the shorter cross-streets the walls and fences are hidden by 
the abundant growth of shrubs, or mantled by the Woodbine, 
Clematis, and Ivy. 

In their flowering season the Sweet Viburnum and the Elder 
load the air with their fragrance. At short intervals the ob¬ 
server comes upon a grove of Maples and Oaks, or a copse of 
Pine interspersed with deciduous varieties. Other species are 
found in places suited to their growth, as the Willows in the low 
grounds and by the brooks. 


TREE LIFE AND STRUCTURE. 

Who does not gaze with admiration at a grand, old tree ? 
There is nothing in vegetable nature comparable to it. It is 
only, however, by the habit of close observation that the exceed¬ 
ing beauty of tree-life and tree-structure, at the various seasons 
of the year, is discerned. This is especially manifest when 
under a vernal sun the swelling buds and leaflets take on 
a russet hue all over our hills, and then .along the wide land¬ 
scape a light green, deepening shade by shade, as the season 
advances, into the rich, dark green of the full summer foliage; 
and again, at the sudden maturity of the foliage in autumn, when 
the brilliant painting of our hills and valleys is a sight wonder¬ 
ful to behold; while there is nothing finer in nature or art than 
the symmetry of tree architecture as seen in winter. 

This is true also of the rich drapery of tree and shrub, after a 
winter’s night of ice and snow, flashing and gleaming under the 
morning’s sun, of which the poet caught the beauty: — 


TREES. 


615 


“ Every pine, and fir, and hemlock 
Wore ermine too dear for an earl, 

And the poorest twig on the elm-tree 
Was ridged inch-deep with pearl.” 

He will give himself a new joy who studies the variety and 
beauty of our leafless trees. 

THE ELM. 

The Elm grows naturally in our soil, and there are many 
within the limits of Milton of great size and age. The mag¬ 
nificent Elms at the entrance of the town, near Mattapan bridge, 
were planted by Hugh McLean in 1775, which would give them 
an age of over one hundred years. The Elm near the corner of 
Canton avenue and Atherton street sprung from the seed under 
the bedroom window of the old “ Bent Tavern,” and was trans¬ 
planted to its present position in 1780 by Sarah Glover. 

In the record of the laying out of Atherton street, 1811, 
appears the following notice of this tree: — 

N.B. — An elm tree belonging to Mr. Atherton, and standing in said 
road, near his house, we have agreed shall remain there during his pleas¬ 
ure. 

The large trees shading the avenue of Col. H. S. Russell were 
set out by Francis Amory in 1820. 

DUTCH ELMS. 

Most, and probably all, of the Dutch Elms in Milton, Dor¬ 
chester, and Boston 1 had their origin on the estate of Mr. 
James Smith, Brush Hill, Milton, long owned and occupied bj T 
the late Hon. James Murray Robbins. 

Mr. Smith and his friend, John Jones, of Dorchester, on their 
return from a visit to Europe in 1734 or thereabouts, brought 


‘D. T. V. Huntoon, late of Canton, gives the following history of the famous “Pad- 
dock Elms ” of Tremont street, Boston : — 

“ Mr. Gilbert Deblois, a well-known citizen of Boston, and an intimate friend of Mr. 
Smith, said to him, ‘ If you will give me a bunch of those Dutch Elms, I will name my 
new-born baby for you.’ The request was complied with, and the boy was named James 
Smith Deblois. The records of King's Chapel show that James Smith Deblois was 
baptized by Eev. Hemy Carver, May 16, 1769, which fixes the time the trees were planted. 
They were set in front of the Granary, opposite the house of Mr. Deblois; but as his 
business was at a distance, he engaged Adino Paddock, the windows of whose shop over¬ 
looked the trees, to look out for their protection. Mr. Paddock twice offered a reward for 
the discovery of those who injured the trees, but does not speak of himself as their owner. 
Prom this circumstance the trees were called ‘ Paddock Elms.’ Precisely the same 
compact was entered into between Judge Aucmuty and James Smith. Trees were planted 
in front of his house on Aucmuty’s Lane, and his child received the name of James 
Smith Aucmuty.” 



616 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


with them a large number of these Elms, some of which were 
planted on his farm at Brush Hill; there they grew and 
multiplied by numerous offshoots, furnishing a supply for all 
demands. 

The chief and only special excellence of this tree is its power 
to resist the frost and to retain its foliage in the fall. When 
the American Elm is yellow, and in part leafless, this remains 
green as in summer. 

In the spring of 1788, after the dedication of the new meet¬ 
ing-house, at the suggestion of Deacon Lemuel Adams and 
Governor Robbins, every man in the parish was invited to 
furnish an Elm-tree to shade and adorn the meeting-house lot. 
As more were brought than could be used for this purpose, Col. 
William Taylor planted the rest along the street opposite the 
church land on his own estate. Governor Edward H. Robbins 
brought from Brush Hill four Dutch Elms, which were planted 
in the line front of the church, where three are now standing. 
One was prostrated by the gale of 1815 ; it was again righted, 
and stood in its place until removed when the position of the 
church was changed. 

One of the Babcock family planted the large Dutch Elms in 
front of the Babcock or Davis house on Canton avenue, and 
some of the American Elms on the street; the small Dutch Elms 
were placed there by Mr. Davis, and the line of American Elms 
by the roadside was filled out by him. 

Dr. Amos Holbrook, whose second wife was Patience, the 
daughter of Daniel Yose, and who lived in the Daniel Vose house 
near the depot, set the Dutch Elms, now standing there, in 1784 ; 
he also planted the Dutch Elms near the residence of Mrs. Cun¬ 
ningham, on Milton Hill, about the time of building his mansion 
there, now owned by Mrs. Cunningham. 

Brevet Brigadier-General Ezra.Badlam planted the two Dutch 
Elms now standing in front of the store of Furness & Twombly, 
Washington street, Dorchester. 

HUTCHINSON TKEES. 

In 1743 Thomas Hutchinson, afterwards Governor Hutchin¬ 
son, built the Hutchinson house which stood on Milton Hill, 
where the Russell house now stands. About that time he 
planted two Scotch Larches which he had imported, one at each 
front corner of his new house ; one of these is still standing in 
the vigorous old age of nearly a century and a half. He also 
planted, on each side of the road by his estate, a row of Syca¬ 
more-trees ; it is known that he gave his personal supervision to 



TREES. 


617 


the work, and assisted the workmen with shovel and spade. 
For nearly a century the trees are said to have been very 
beautiful. In 1840 a peculiar blight struck this species of the 
American Plane, greatly affecting these trees. This was 
noticed with solicitude by the owners of the estate, and Miss 
Ida Russell caused other ornamental trees to be planted between 
the Sycamores. These grew and thrived as the others declined, 
and filled their places as the others disappeared, thus keeping 
unbroken the beautiful line of shade. Three of the Sycamores 
still remain, having an antiquity of one hundred and forty 
years. 

Another Sycamore, hoary with age, stands on the grounds of 
Mr. Edward Cunningham. It is near the avenue guarded by 
the lions, and but a short distance from Pleasant street. This 
tree, a yard from the ground, has a circumference of fifteen feet 
nine inches, making it, next to the Red Oak opposite the Pound, 
the largest known trunk in Milton. The adamantine trunk 
and time-worn limbs show extreme age, and confirm the legend 
that it stood where it now stands before these shores were 
known to our race, and was a favorite tree with the Indians. 

At the time of the Revolution Moses Yose was engaged in 
feeding stock on Deer Island in Boston harbor; his wife was in 
feeble health, requiring the assistance of a physician, and they 
were anxious to get off; but all attempts were unavailing, as the 
British swarmed the adjacent waters. There were many cattle 
and sheep on the island, liable at any hour to be seized by 
the enemy. At this juncture an expedition put off from 
Charlestown on a dark night, and, by keeping in shoal waters, 
avoided the enemy’s vessels, made the island, and bore the 
family and stock safely to the mainland. 

Moses Yose took possession of his house on Brook road, now 
the Dudley house. Soon after his return he planted the Elm- 
tree now standing on the southerly side of the road, near the 
brook, and two Ash-trees on the opposite side, near the house. 
One of these was destroyed in the 1815 gale; the other stands 
where it was set, more than a hundred years ago. 

THE OLDEST ELM. 

The large Elm standing in front of the house of Mr. Andrew 
R. Hobson, on Brook road, is the oldest Elm in Milton of which 
we have any knowledge. This tree, which has a girth of twelve 
feet a yard from the ground, in its gnarled and knotted trunk 
and limbs shows signs of great age. 

In the early part of Dr. Holbrook’s professional service in 


618 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Milton a messenger from this house, who called on him in the 
night to attend a sick man, reported that he lived under the 
“ Big Elm.” Dr. Holbrook died forty-three years ago. Forty 



years ago Mr. Henry Leeds stated to Mr. Hobson that his 
mother, who, if then living, would be one hundred years old, 
used to come with other girls to swing in this tree. It follows, 
that more than a hundred and thirty years ago this tree had 
attained a size sufficient to afford limbs and shade for a girl’s 
swing. 

LARGE ELMS. 

It is not uncommon to see in Milton Elms of extraordinary 
size, with massive trunks, and wide-armed, spreading their 
branches over the street, and shooting up to the blue sky. 

Some of the largest are found in the following places (they 
are measured a yard from the ground) : — At the corner of the 
barn in the Academy house lot, fourteen feet six inches in cir¬ 
cumference ; near the residence of Mrs. Shepherd, off Canton 
avenue, fourteen feet ten inches, its limbs covering an area of 
ninety feet in diameter; on Brush Hill road, near the house of 
Mrs. Yose, thirteen feet six inches; near the old Ferry house, 
ten feet five inches; the old tree on Brook Road, twelve feet; 
the tree at the Atherton Tavern, thirteen feet; and the tree 
near the Pound on Canton avenue, fourteen feet four inches. 

The tree near the Pound was twice condemned as standing 



TREES. 


619 


too far in tlie sidewalk, and the last time was saved by a mug 
of cider. In 1774, when the Pound was built, the selectmen 
sold the tree to one of the citizens, who afterwards petitioned 
the toAvn to relieve him from his bargain, which was so voted. 
Years after, two men were sent to cut it down. Miss Polly 
Yose, daughter of Joshua, living in the house opposite, heard 
the first blow of the axe, and presented herself to remonstrate. 
The men replied, “We must obey orders,” and began again to 
ply their axes. She hurried back to the house and returned 
with a mug of cider, thus addressing the men; “ Come, now, 
take a drink of cider, and do just wait till I can see the select¬ 
men.” They drank the cider, shouldered their axes, and went 
off. The tree, in its vigorous old age, has long since outgrown 
the scar of the woodman’s axe, which it bore for many years. 

At a much later date, when the parish conveyed to Deacon 
Isaac Gulliver the land which had been leased to him, about 
A.D. 1800, a bond for the preservation of this tree was re¬ 
quired of hi m . 1 

SYMMETRICAL ELMS. 

The American Elm, growing in open fields, detached from 
buildings and other trees, throws out graceful, pendant limbs 
from all sides of the trunk, and attains an even, uniform shape 
of great symmetry and beauty. There are many in Milton of 
this symmetrical form. Among others are the following: 
The large tree on Brush Hill, near the Ferry house; the 
tree at the corner of the Academy barn; a tree standing in 


i The following is a true copy of the bond given by Isaac Gulliver to the First Con¬ 
gregational Parish in Milton respecting a large Elm-tree, near the Pound in said Milton, 
which the said parish are desirous to be preserved for shade and ornament for a certain 
length of time, as may be seen by the following instrument: — 

“ Whereas the First Congregational Parish in Milton have by their Treasurer Mr 
Jesse Tucker conveyed to me a certain parcel of land in said Milton being a part of the 
Ministerial land anci adjoining the Academy land fronting on Taunton road, near the 
Town Pound, and whereas there is a large Elm Tree [near the Town Pound and 
belonging to the lot I have purchased] which the said Parish are desirous to be pre¬ 
served for shade and ornament, in order therefore to answer the wishes of said Pai’ish, 
and to secure the benefit of said shade, I hereby for myself my Heirs Executors and 
Administrators covenant with the First Congregational Parish in Milton, that said tree 
shall remain unmolested from any act of mine or that of my Heirs Executors and Admin¬ 
istrators as aforesaid. 

“ But if hereafter said tree should decay, and from a ruinous state no longer continue 
to afford the shade and ornament desired by the said Parish Society, that then it may and 
shall be at my disposal, without any let or hindrance on the part and behalf of said first 
Parish. One disinterested person chosen by each party, and those two the third, the 
judgment of whom shall determine when the decay, and ruinous state of said tree for 
shade and ornament, has taken place. 

“ In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal, this twenty fourth day 
of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty three. 

“ In presence of Isaac Gulliver (S. L.) 

“ Samuel Gulliver 
“ Benj a Read ” 



620 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


the field of Mr. H. J. Gilbert at the end of the lane running 
from Canton avenue, southerly, by his barn and other buildings, 
and also the tree in front of his barn ; a tree on Randolph 
avenue, in the open fields, east of the stone cottage of Mr. W. 
H. Snow; a tree in the yard of Samuel Cook, near Hillside 
street; the old tree on Brook road; the tree at the Atherton 
Tavern; and many smaller trees. 

OAKS AND OTHER TREES. 

On the lot of the High School-house is a grand, old, wide- 
spreading White Oak. Near Williams avenue, on the Oxton 
land lately sold to William L. P. Boardman, are four Oaks of 



* great beauty. On the estate of Col. H. S. Russell are sev¬ 
eral splendid trees of this variety. In the neck of land lying 
between Central avenue and Mattapan, owned by J. M. Forbes, 
may be seen specimens of the White Oak, large and handsome; 
and on Harland street, at the top of the hill as you ascend 
from the meadow, on the west side of the road, stand six of 
these noble trees, that cannot fail to attract the attention of 
every passer-by; while on the opposite side of Harland street, 
on the land of James L. Kennedy, and in the rear of his house, 
is a Chestnut grove, covering an area of ten acres, of an even, 
compact growth of thirty-five years. With care this may be¬ 
come the most beautiful grove in Milton. 


TREES. 


621 


A large Red Oak, of great age, stands front of the house of 
F. E. Sandford, near the Pound. It is seventeen feet two 
inches in circumference three feet from the ground, the largest 
known trunk in Milton. As the Oak attains to great age, it 
may fairly be inferred that this venerable Oak was in its youth¬ 
ful verdure when the Pilgrims sought these shores. 

Trees of all kinds of the deciduous varieties, and of great 
size, mark the borders and line the dividing walls of the estate 
of the late James M. Robbins, of Brush Hill; many of them 
were planted by James Smith one hundred and fifty years ago. 

THE WEBSTER TREE. 

Miss Ida Russell secured an acorn or a small Oak-tree from 
Daniel Webster’s estate in Marshfield, and planted it on a point 
of land between Adams street and Randolph avenue. Subse¬ 
quently the iron fence which enclosed the grave of the Hon. 
Jonathan Russell, who was first buried directly opposite the 
Russell house, on the north side of Adams street, and was after¬ 
wards removed to Forest Hills, was placed around this tree 
where it now stands. Unfortunately the tree has failed to. find 
a congenial soil, and to represent vigorously its honored name. 

Chestnut-trees of great size are found in various parts of 
our town; three or four on the old John Ruggles estate, Can¬ 
ton avenue. There is a grove of these trees, all of which are 
old and large and fruit-bearing, on the Lewis Bronsdon estate, 
Hillside street. 

The Willows along Ruggles lane were set out by Caleb 
Hobart about 1824; they have attained great size, the girth of 
the largest, a yard from the ground, is fourteen feet six inches. 

GENERAL VIEW. 

It is unnecessary to continue this detailed description of the 
trees that stand all around us. 

If one will ascend any eminence overlooking the town he 
will be surprised at the amount of surface apparently covered 
by trees. It matters little at which point of the compass he 
is looking, except a few small enclosures near by, almost the 
whole town seems a continuous park or wood, with here and 
there a building to offer its contrast to the shades of green. 

If one desires to witness the marvellous effect of trees in the 
landscape, let him drive over Brush Hill on a sunny day, and 
view the distant hills and the interlying valleys. 

But he who is seeking the greatest variety of forest growth, 
the health-seeker who would find Nature in her innermost 


622 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


workshop, whence arises the fragrance from her mysterious 
operations in leaf, bud, and blossom, may ride, or, better 
still, walk around the base of the Blue Hills. Taking Highland 
street, or Harland street and Hillside street, he will come, 
almost at once, into the region where every sense will find 
gratification; while the lungs and every pore of the body will 
receive the health-giving atmosphere, loaded as it is with 
Nature’s tonics. 

When we remember that vegetation is Nature’s renovator; 
that its myriads of leaves are taking in injurious gases, appro¬ 
priating to their structure the deleterious portions, and restoring 
the needed oxygen, we marvel not at the exhilaration experi¬ 
enced from such intimate communion with her works. 

Considerations of this kind will account for the proverbial 
healthfulness of Milton, it having been, a few years ago, at the 
head of all the towns in the Commonwealth in a sanitary point 
of view. May the time never come when less regard shall be 
had to the setting and preserving of ornamental and forest trees ! 


BIRDS OF MILTON 



“ I hear from many a little throat 
A warble interrupted long; 

I hear the robin’s flute-like note, 

The bluebird’s slenderer song.” 

Bryant. 

The extensive areas covered with woods on the hills, together 
with the numerous smaller groves and patches of forest growth 
in all parts of the town, render Milton a favorite resort of the 
wood as well as the orchard birds. 

Each returning spring is announced by the welcome notes of 
the Robin, the Bluebird, the song and the chirping Sparrow, the 
Phoebe, and the red-winged Blackbird, while later the Oriole 









BIRDS. 


628 


and Swallows appear. Besides these varieties, which are found 
in all localities suited to their nesting, many wood birds in their 
passage from grove to grove are heard in the trees that shade 
the dwellings or adorn the roadsides. 

In June, when the elm-seeds are ripening, they afford nourish¬ 
ment for several species of the warblers. At intervals all 
through the long, sunny days the prolonged twitter of the Blue 
Yellow-backed Warbler ( Parula Americana') may be heard 
answering his mate foraging in a neighboring elm. 

At the same season, and earlier, at the outskirts of the village, 
one may hear the “ Chebec, chebec ” of the Least Flycatcher 
(j Empidonax Minima). He returns from the South about the 
middle of May. At nearly the same time comes the Maryland 
Yellow-throat ( Greothlypis Trichas ), whose song is an abrupt 
“Rich-e-tit, rich-e-tit, rich-e-tit,” thrice repeated. 

Then from a neighboring tree you hear the emphasized “ See, 
see, see, see, swasy ” of his cousin the Yellow Warbler (Den- 
droica Aestiva) ; and a little later in the season the bustling, 
business-like note of the Golden-crowned Thrush (> Sciurus 
Aurocapillus). The last is also called the oven-bird, because its 
nest, placed upon the ground, has the shape of an oven. All 
these bird-songs may be heard in every part of the town, from 
our dwellings, and by the wayside. 

Standing by the wood-side, the practised ear will catch the 
peculiar, ringing note of the Wood Thrush ( Turdus Muste- 
linus), the sweetest of all our song-birds. He seems the friend 
of the desponding, as he sings through the whole day only in 
cloudy weather; but on other days he waits till towards even¬ 
ing, when darkness is about to settle upon us, as though he 
would say, “ You need my song only when the sun is absent.” 
As one stands at the margin of the forest, the note is intensi¬ 
fied, as if echoed from the arches of a great cathedral, of which 
the tree-trunks are the supporting columns. No description 
can convey an idea of his thrilling strain; it must be heard, and 
by an ear attuned to enjoy the “ concord of sweet sounds,” and 
it will be, in memory, a joy forever. 

Each summer brings back to our hills the Whippoorwill 
(Antrostomus Vociferus), though it is not often that more than 
one is heard on the same evening in the centre of the town. 
In the vicinity of the deeper woods, at the south and west 
parts of the town, several are frequently heard, answering 
each other’s call. 

Yet his far less desirable neighbor, the Screech Owl (Scops 
Asio), was for a long time tenant-at-will on the church green. 
In 1876, and for several years preceding, this owl built in the 


624 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


highest limb of one of the Dutch elms in front of the church. 
More than once, specimens from this nest were taken to the 
schools in the interest of natural science, and after posing suf¬ 
ficiently to wondering eyes were carefully returned to their 
blinking companions in the hollow tree. 

In Milton Cemetery, and also in other parts of the town, have 
been found, for several years, the tiny nests of our only Hum¬ 
ming Bird, the ruby-throated QTrochilus Colubris). This is 
the least of our birds, and the jewel of the feathered tribe. 

The Phoebe Flycatcher always builds in the horse-sheds in 
the rear of the churches. 

The Golden-winged Woodpecker and various warblers find 
safe homes in the elms on every side. 

Among the bushes by the roadside the Cat Bird, and also the 
Brown Thrush or Thrasher, find a secure dwelling-place. The 
former, not unfrequently, makes its nest in the thick shrub¬ 
bery near our dwellings. The song of each of these birds is a 
medley; a quite different performance from the cat-like cry of 
alarm that has given name to the former bird. 

The rollicking Bobolink makes himself known as a bird of 
note. “ Braggart, and prince of braggarts is he,” as poised on 
a topmost branch he pours out his song. A short-lived reign 
is his, however. The velvet and ermine of his jaunty coat is 
changed to sober brown, and his versatile lay to a single note, 
before the end of the summer. 

In the meadows and by the streams the Snipe and Wood¬ 
cock are still noticed, and in the woods the Quail and Par¬ 
tridge. The latter birds, with the rare and charming Scarlet 
Tanager, are occasionally started in our Cemetery and the 
grounds contiguous thereto. 

Much rarer birds are often seen in Milton. A few years since, 
that most beautiful of our water-birds, the Wood or Summer 
Duck, made her nest in a hollow oak, a few rods from the bridge 
where Brook road crosses Pine Tree Brook. Here, unmolested, 
she hatched her brood, which she at once helped to the ground. 
Then they were conducted or carried to the brook near by, their 
natural feeding-place, where, in their native element, they were 
secure till strong enough to take wing. 

After a long and very severe north-east storm four or five 
specimens of the Little Auk were found in Milton, blown hither 
from their far-off home in the northern seas. Several of these 
were secured and mounted by our citizens. 



BIRDS. 


625 


WINTER BIRDS. 

No enumeration would be complete which did not contain 
our winter birds. 

How many a frosty morning is enlivened by the cheerful 
twitter of the Chickadee! These may be secured as constant 
visitors, by food that they like placed on the window-stool, or 
within sight of the window. 

The wild Blue Jay also, when pressed by hunger, will come 
for the corn that is exposed for his use, or will steal it, if he can, 
through cracks in the corn-barn. 

In severest winters, after deep snows, the Crow, a much more 
wary bird, ventures near the abodes of man. In secluded 
places he will even eat of the food thrown to the poultry. This 
is never done without first posting a sentinel on some tree that 
commands a view of all approaches. 

In the depth of winter, especially when the sun shines out 
after a driving snow-storm, the dreary prospect is relieved by 
flocks of the Black Snow Bird. They are very tame, seeming 
to have little fear of man. Then the Snow Bunting, black and 
white in color, lights in flocks wherever dried weeds or sprays 
of grass project from the snow and give promise of a coveted 
seed. Both these birds have their nests and spend most of 
the year far to the north, visiting us only when the cold is in¬ 
tense, and the sunlight pretty much withdrawn from the region 
they love best. 

We have now also the peevish but persistent English Spar¬ 
row, fully acclimated, amongst us. In the cold season he is 
seen, in some parts of our town, in greater numbers than all the 
other non-migratory birds ; and he has come to stay. I think, 
if our home birds were asked to vote on the subject, they would 
affirm their ability to take care of troublesome insects without 
foreign intervention. 

In some sunny spots, like those heavily covered with cedars, 
whose thick branches afford a shelter in storms, a few Robins 
winter at the North. Occasionally they are seen in Milton at 
this season. A New England naturalist, Prof. J. W. P. Jenks, 
who formerly studied the habits of this bird, at the request of 
the Legislature, claims that the last brood of the Robin does not 
migrate the first year. They sometimes rear three broods in a 
season, he says, and possibly the last one has not acquired suf¬ 
ficient strength of wing to undertake the long flight to the 
South. 


626 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


BIRD VISITS. 

These winter birds may afford much amusement, and con¬ 
tribute in no small degree to the life and cheer of the country 
home, during the period of ice and snow. The method here 
described of bringing them into close and fearless connection 
with ourselves and our dwellings was first observed many years 
ago at the pleasant residence of the Miss Bents on Brush Hill; 
it is now not uncommon in Milton. 

Within twenty feet of the drawing-room windows a wide 
board, with a rim around the edge, is suspended from a tree, six 
feet above the ground. On this is placed corn, wheat, barley, 
oats, cracked-corn, meal, and bran, — a variety to meet the taste 
and capacity of the guests. At the specific time, which is the 
first heavy fall of snow, our little friends who have before been 
our guests expect the entertainment; and if, for any reason, 
it is not ready, they remind us of the neglect by flitting from 
limb to limb in a disturbed and restless way, so that we 
cannot mistake their meaning. And when the feast is pre¬ 
pared the Snow Buntings and Chickadees gather their friends, 
and the Blue Jays scream to their fellows, and there is 
a general flying together, seemingly of old acquaintances. 
From this time they favor us with their presence till the snow 
disappears. Sometimes five or six Blue Jays are seen at once. 
The smaller birds prefer the meal and bran and broken 
wheat. The Blue Jays invariably take the corn; and, if the 
supply fails, they are sure to remind us of it, as they are 
not over-modest, and are favored with a strong voice. Last 
year, for the first time, the English Sparrows discovered the 
festive board ; they evidently thought themselves in luck, and 
took possession, sending the Chickadee and Snow Bunting to 
the ground to pick up the crumbs that had fallen from the 
master’s table; nor did they discover the mistake until the 
lordly Blue Jay gently reminded them of the true state of 
things. 

BIRD CONCERTS. 

Expositors do not attribute that outburst of the Royal 
Psalmist in his “ Spring Psalm ” to the bird-concerts at the 
opening and closing of the day : “ Thou makest the outgoings 
of the morning and evening to rejoice.” But when we listen to 
the sweet blending of bird-notes, that wake the morning and 
hush the evening to repose, it is scarcely possible to give 
it another meaning. 

From the doors and windows of every dwelling in Milton, 



BIRDS. 


627 



especially of those near trees and woods, which is true of almost 
all, the sublime bird-chorus may be heard. The grand season 
of song commences about the middle of May, and extends into 
June, covering the time of bird-loves, before the labor of nest¬ 
building and the care of birdlings come on. 

The morning concert is opened at the 
break of dawn by solo voices answering 
each other from tree to tree ; as the 
light opens and the day advances the 
voices increase in number and volume, 
until the dwellers of every tree 
and thicket and grove join in one 
grand chorus of exultant song. 

The sunset concert is more sub¬ 
dued, but not less enchanting. 
It begins as the sun is about 
setting, and continues till 
dark. The feathered song¬ 
sters lift up their evening- 
song of praise, carolling, 
warbling, trilling, in soft 
and liquid notes, until 
the day departs. 





APPENDIX. 






APPENDIX A. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 

cpHE consideration of the origin and meaning of the word 
A “Massachusetts,” though not strictly a portion of our 
history, and perhaps of no special interest to the general reader, 
should, nevertheless, have a place in the annals of the town, 
from whose hills, according to the highest authority, the name 
was derived. It will surely be of deep interest to many citizens 
not of Milton alone, hut of other towns in the Commonwealth. 

Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull , 1 of Hartford, Conn., whose au¬ 
thority in the Algonkin dialects is unquestioned, in answer 
to a letter directed to him, asking his latest thoughts and con¬ 
clusions on this point, replies as follows : — 

Hartford, Dec. 9, 1884. 

Rev. Dr. Teele : — 

My dear Classmate,— Massachusetts is an anglicized plural of 
Massachusett — which unquestionably signifies ‘ c at the great hills ” 
or “ hill.” 

I send you a sheet from the Proceedings of the Am. Antiquarian 
Society for October, 1867, containing a letter I wrote about the 
name, —though I was then less confident than now, and offered my 
interpretation only as conjectural. I have, as you will see, explained 
Williams’ “ Blew Hill” and Cotton’s “ arrow-head.” 

By the way, is there any one of that range of hills which may be 
said to have the shape of an (Indian) arrow-head ? It is worth look¬ 
ing for. 

Yrs. sincerely, 

J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL. 


1 The Rev. Dr. Henry M. Dexter, of Boston, thus writes respecting Dr. Trumbull: — 

“ Boston, 8 Feb., 1879. 

“My dear Sir,—H o living man can correct J. Hammond Trumbull in Algonkin, or 
tell whether he be right in his deductions from it, because he is the only man who knows 
the language. 

“ But the result of all my puny investigations in the same direction has always been to 
persuade me that a more accurate scholar does not live than he is. 

“ Consequently, I trust him, and, trusting him, Ihave no doubtmyself that his account of 
the matter is a true one. 

“ Faithfully, 


“ HENRY M. DEXTER.’ 



632 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


A part of Dr. Trumbull’s letter to Dr. E. E. Hale, of the 
American Antiquarian Society, which was regarded by that 
distinguished Society “ as a very intelligible and satisfactory 
determination of the subject,” is here inserted, as follows: — 

And now, as to the signification of the name. Hereupon, 
I am not prepared to speak positively, and therefore would have 
preferred to say nothing, until I should receive more light. But in 
reply to your query, I very willingly give you as much as I know, 
and add what I guess. There is no doubt, I think, about “ the achu 
part.” Adchu (as Eliot wrote it) was the generic name for ‘' hill ” 
or “mountain.” In Eliot’s version it occurs frequently, with the 
pronominal prefix of the third person, Wadchu (=00adchu) : in the 
plural, wadchuash (as in Is. xl. 12, for “mountains” and “hills”). 
With the locative suffix ( wadchu-ut ), it signified at, in, into, or on, 
the mountain; see G-en. xxxi. 54 ; Exod. xix. 12, and xxiv. 18 ; Is. 
xxvii. 13. (“ Olivese wadchu” (Zech. xiv. 4) = “ Wadchu Olives” 

(Luke xix. 29), for “ the Mount of Olives.”) Mas- represents, I 
believe, the adjective missi , mussi , or as Eliot more frequently (but 
not always) wrote it, mishe , — “ great.” The first vowel was obscure, 
or rather there was between the m and s only a sh’wa, and m’si is 
perhaps a better spelling. The final vowel is necessarily lost in 
composition. M’s-adchu (Eliot has mishadchu , as in Luke iii. 5, 
and Rev. viii. 8), “a great mountain.” (In Luke iii. 5, we have 
mishadchu hah wadchu , “ mountain and hill.”) At, or in, the great 
mountain, would be expressed by m’s-adchu-ut (not -set) ; but the 
adjective formed from m’sadchu , or its plural, m’sadchuash, might be 
m’sadchuse (or as in the before-mentioned title of the Indian Psalter, 
Massachusee). So, Massachuse-dhke (=z Messacliusiack , of Gorges, 
ut supra ; Messats8sek , of R&le’s Dictionary, s. v. “ Noms ”), for “the 
great-hill country ; ” and Massachusee-og (= Massachuseuck , of R. 
Williams and Winslow ; “ the Massachusets” of Smith and Mourt’s 
Relation ; “ Massachisans,” of Gorges), for “ the great hill people.” 
(-Par parentM.se , that name was earned on the 17th of June, 1775, 
if never before ; and may be held by a new tenure when the Hoosac 
Tunnel is bored.) 

The “two wholly diverse explanations,” to which you allude as 
given in the books, I understand to be the statement of Roger Will¬ 
iams, and a note at the end of Cotton’s Vocabulary. Williams was 
informed “ that Massachusetts was called so from the Blew Hills ; ” 
Cotton, that “ Massachusetts ” was “ an hill in the form of an arrow’s 
head.” Neither professed to translate the name. From one, we 
learn that the “ great hill ” was one of those sometimes called “ Blew 
Hills ; ” from the other, its shape. 

I should say, then, that “ Massachusetts” was originally an angli¬ 
cized plural of a corrupt form (Massachuset ), in which he who first 
used it blended, through ignorance of the language, the description 
of the place ( m’sadchu-ut ), “at the great hill” (or “hills”) with 




APPENDIX A. 


633 


the tribal name of the Indians who lived thereabouts, M'sadchuseiick, 
“ great hill people.” 

It may be, however, — and in other Algonkin dialects I find some¬ 
thing to give probability to the supposition, — that the termination or 
suffix, set, in such names as Massachu-set, Wachu-set, Narragan-set, 
Nepon-set, and the like, had the signification of “towards,” “near 
to,” or “ in the vicinity of,” in distinction from the simple locative 
ut, et, or it, signifying “ in,” “ on,” or “ at.” But I find no trace of 
such affix in the writings of Eliot, Williams, or Rftle. —Letter of J. 
Hammond Trumbull to Dr. E. E. Hale. 


ARROW—HEAD HILL. 

No little significance is given by local historians to that refer¬ 
ence to Massachusetts found at the close of Cotton’s Vocabulary, 
as follows: “ Massachusetts, an hill in the form of an arrow’s- 
head.” 

It is conceived that “ Massachusetts Hummock ” (so called 
in ancient plans and deeds), situated in the town of Quincy, on 
the Squantum road, to which Chickataubut removed his head¬ 
quarters after the pestilence, resembles an arrow-head; and 
that the above allusion to Massachusetts by Cotton, in connec¬ 
tion with this peculiar hill, known to have been the head-quarters 
of the tribe, furnishes a key to the origin and meaning of the 
word. 

To throw light on this matter, it is proper to state that “ the 
manuscript volume of Cotton’s Vocabulary is of small quarto 
size, and consists of sixty leaves and one hundred and twelve 
pages, with two other leaves containing an imperfect index of 
English words which occur in it.” The Vocabulary proper ends 
on page 111. 

The whole of page 112, containing six independent entries, 
among which is the said reference to Massachusetts, is here 
transcribed: — 


Page 112 of Cotton's Vocabulary. 

“ When 2 or 3 o together, how to be prononneed? ” 

“ Massachusetts an hill in the form of an arrow’s head.” 

“ Nequt, a thing that is past.” 

“ Pasuk, a thing in being.” 

Kext, five printed lines and two words on a sixth line, in the Indian 
language, in the midst of which is the abbreviation Luk: 16, 26. 

“ Let us sing to the praise of God, Psalm 23. Kuttoohumontuh en 
wawenomaonganit God.” 

In order to secure all attainable light and knowledge on the 
arrow-head conjecture, and, if possible, to settle and determine 




634 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


a question of so great interest, the whole matter was re-sub¬ 
mitted to Dr. Trumbull, with plans, deeds, and all docu¬ 
mentary evidence touching the arrow-head theory that could be 
gathered. 

He was also asked to unveil the mysteries of page 112. In 
accordance with his wonted courtesy the following reply was 
received, and is here submitted: — 


Hartford, March 6, 1885. 

Rev. A. K. Teele, D.D. : — 

My dear Classmate,—I have yours of the 3d, “with accom¬ 
panying documents.” Cotton’s Vocabulary — compiled in 1707 and 
1708, when he was studying (but had not advanced far in the knowl¬ 
edge of) the Indian language of Massachusetts — originally ended 
on page 111 of the manuscript. On the next page (112) he set down 
a query, and certain memoranda, —which made no part of the Vocab¬ 
ulary. First, a query : “ when 2 or 3 o” come together, how they 
are “to be pronounced? ” The digraph oo (= oo) and the double o 
will be found in a great number of words in the Vocabulary: in 
many, triple and quadruple o’s (ooo and oooo), and in one word at 
least, p. 87, a quintuple , 5oooo. The pronunciation of some of these 
words puzzled Mr. Cotton, and he noted the matter for further inves¬ 
tigation. The third and fourth entries (as printed) are: “ Nequt, 
a thing that is past.” “ Pasuk , a thing in being.” Now, the English 
is not the translation of either word, for both nequt and pasuk mean 
“ one,” and can be translated by no other English word; but there 
was a distinction between the two words, which Mr. Cotton was try¬ 
ing to get at; and, though not quite successful, he came tolerably 
near it. (I may add parenthetically, that nequt is “ one ” as a nume¬ 
ral— i. e., the first of a series ; and pasuk is “ one” absolutely, — a 
unit , admitting no second: a distinction not to be lost sight of by a 
missionary.) “ Next, five printed lines and two words on the sixth 
line in the Indian, in the midst of which is the abbreviation Luk. 16. 
26.” These lines supply forms for beginning and ending a sermon, and 
were very likely written by the younger Cotton from his father’s 
dictation, and set down on this blank page for ready reference. 
Literally translated, they mean this and nothing more: “At 
the beginning of teaching [or preaching], ‘ Hear ye the word of 

God, and prepare yourself to receive that which is written in Luke 
16 : 26 ; ’ at the end, say, ‘ Now (or thus) you have heard the good 
word [= gospel] of God; if you carefully observe it, by the mercy 
of God you shall be blessed forever.’ ” 

Then follows the form, in English and Indian, “Let us sing to 
the praise of God, Psalm 23.” 

To go back to the second entry,—_ in which you are most inter¬ 
ested,— in which Massachusetts is identified with “ an hill in the 
form of an arrow-head.” This is not given as a translation, or a 



APPENDIX A. 


635 


definition. It is merely the description of a locality, or tract of 
land to which Cotton had been told this name belonged. 

“Massachusetts” does not signify “an hill in the form of an 
arrow-head,” any more exactly than “ nequt ” signifies “ a thing that 
is past.” Cotton had learned—on some authority or other — that 
the name belonged to such a hill. But there is not — and here I 
speak positively — any element in the name itself which can possibly 
signify “ arrow-head,” or the “ form of an arrow-head,” or can have 
any reference to an arrow, or its head or its shape, in the Massa¬ 
chusetts dialect or in any other known Algonkin language. The hill, 
or rather the locality, was Massachuset; the Indians who lived there¬ 
abouts were “amongst themselves,” Massaclius&uck , as Roger Will¬ 
iams wrote it in 1643 — the Massachusets or Massachuseucks (the 
final s being added to form an English plural or possessive), named, 
in Winslow’s “ Good News from N.E.” (See Young’s “ Chron. of 
the Pilgrims,” p. 285, and my edition of R. Williams’ “ Indian 
Key,” Note 7.) 

There can be, I think, no reasonable doubt that Massachuset desig¬ 
nated a locality at or near a “ great hill,” or “ great hills,” and that 
the Indians thereabouts were called “people of the great hill (or 
hills)” Massachuseuck, and by the English “ Massachusets.” 

I cannot give you the meaning of Neponset , or of the pseudo-In¬ 
dian “ Hoosick-Whisick.” I find the name of the river written 
“Aponsett,” in 1639, by Thomas Lechford. In Connecticut (Had- 
dam) we have a “ Punset” brook, anciently called “ Cockaponset; ” 
and in Massachusetts (Halifax) “ Moonponset ” or “ Munponset.” 
As yet these names resist analysis, though we may be tolerably cer¬ 
tain that they are nearly related. 

Very truly yours, 

" J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL. 


JO SI AH COTTON. 

Josiah Cotton, the compiler of the manuscript Vocabulary, 
was the second son of Rev. John Cotton, for twenty-eight 
years pastor of the First Church, Plymouth. Josiah was born 
in 1680, and graduated at Harvard in 1698, when eighteen years 
of age. His father removed to Charleston, S.C., in 1697, and 
became minister of the church there, where he died, Sept. 18, 
1699. Rev. John Cotton was an eminent Indian scholar, and 
corrected the edition of Eliot’s Indian Bible, printed at Cam¬ 
bridge in 1685. We learn from John Pickering that “ the 
volume is principally in the handwriting of the author him¬ 
self; but there are numerous additions and corrections in the 
handwriting of his father.” It bears the dates of 1707 and 
1708 in two or three different places. 



HISTORY OF MILTON. 


It therefore follows, that the Vocabulary must have been the 
work of Josiah in his boyhood, in order to secure corrections 
from his father, who died in a distant city the year after the 
graduation of his son and when he was but nineteen years of 
age. 

cotton’s vocabulary. 

The Cotton Vocabulary was first printed by the Massachu¬ 
setts Historical Society in 1830. (3 Mass. Hist. Coll., II., 147 ft.) 
It is preceded by an introductory notice of the author, giving 
a statement of his missionary life among the Indians, his ready 
use of their language both in speaking and writing, and vari¬ 
ous reasons for reliance on the correctness of the Vocabulary. 
Appended to the introduction are the initials J. D. These ini¬ 
tials are understood to represent the name of Hon. John Davis, 
of Plymouth, who was “one of the most profound antiquarians 
of New England.” 

Following this introduction is a “ Notice of the Manuscript, 
with Remarks on the Author’s Orthography and the Pronun¬ 
ciation of the Language; ” to this are attached the initials J. P. 
These are said to stand for the Hon. John Pickering, of Salem, 
an eminent philologist and writer of law. Among his published 
writings are essays on “ The Uniform Orthography of the Indian 
Language,” and the “ Indian Languages of America.” 

IMPORTANT QUESTION. 

The question arises, How has it happened that the “ arrow¬ 
head ” definition got its place, and kept its place in Cotton’s 
Vocabulary, prepared by the son, revised and corrected by 
the learned father, and, after the lapse of more than a century, 
passing under the keen scrutiny of the Hon. John Davis and 
Dr. John Pickering? 

The leading answer is, that Cotton’s reference to Massachu¬ 
setts is not included in, and is independent of, the Vocabulary, 
which ends on page 111. It is set down on this one hundred 
and twelfth page, among the disconnected entries there, as a 
query, a tradition, a matter of conjecture, or a memorandum 
for further consideration. It seems not unlike the third and 
fourth entries on said page, “ Nequt ” and “ Pasuk,” neither of 
which is translated by the English which follows it, though 
each indicates a search after the true meaning. 

That the learned father would have allowed the son to re¬ 
cord and perpetuate so grave an error, which he might have 
corrected, had he looked upon it in the light of an error, is 



APPENDIX A. 


637 


hardly to be supposed. The father may never have seen this 
entry, as the Vocabulary was not completed until seven or 
eight years after his decease; or, if the sentence met his eye, 
its true import and value were suggested by the character of 
other entries on the same page, none of which received his 
correction. 

The acute minds of the present century who have reviewed 
the work have doubtless taken a like view with the distin¬ 
guished living scholar, Dr. Trumbull, as no reference is 
made by them to any inaccuracies in the body of the work, or 
in the memoranda on this fly-leaf. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

The following hypothesis is therefore submitted as a reason¬ 
able solution of the matter: — 

The hummock rising out of the marsh at Squantum, which 
is thought to have the shape of an arrow-head, and on which 
Chickataubut lived after the pestilence, took the name of 
“Massachusetts” from the name of the tribe camping there. 
“Massachusetts” is inscribed on this hummock in a plan of 
the section drafted as early as 1687, and the same appears in 
various deeds of conveyance. 

Mr. Cotton having learned the name given to this hill, and 
its shape, raised the query, or jotted down the memorandum, 
“ Massachusett, an hill in the form of an arrow’s head.” 

To the suggestion that, after a fuller and more accurate 
knowledge of the language, from forty years of missionary labor 
among the Indians, Mr. Cotton would naturally perfect his 
unfinished work and correct the errors of his early efforts, it is 
pertinent to respond that, as he progressed in the language, 
the results of his crude beginnings might have been thrown 
aside as useless, or wholly forgotten in the riper knowledge of 
mature jears. 


After the foregoing pages on Arrow-Head Hill had been 
written, embodying Dr. Trumbull’s letter of March 6, 1885, the 
manuscript was forwarded to him for his approval and correc¬ 
tion, and he was solicited to furnish any new thoughts or 
additional facts on the arrow-head theory. Within a few days 
the following valuable paper was received, in which the whole 
question is restated and discussed in a most lucid and satis¬ 
factory manner: — 




638 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Hartford, May 12, 1887. 

My dear Dr. Teele, — With reference to recent discussion by lo¬ 
cal historians as to the origin and meaning of the name “ Massachu¬ 
setts,” you ask me if I care to revise or add to my letter to you of 
March 6, 1885, which was written by way of supplement to my 
reply to Rev. Dr. E. E. Hale, printed in the Proceedings of the 
American Antiquarian Society in 1867. You recall my attention to 
Cotton’s note on ‘ £ Massachusetts ” as “ an hill in the form of an 
arrow-head,” and to the question of the identity of the “ Massachu¬ 
setts hummock,” so called, in Quincy, with the hills earlier known as 
those of the “ Massachusetts.” 

To begin at the beginning, — Captain John Smith, when exploring 
the coast of New England, in 1614, noted, among “ the cheef moun- 
taines,” “ the high mountaine of Massachusit,” and distinguished it 
on his map as the highest of the ‘ ‘ Cheuyot hills ” (the name which 
Prince Charles gave to Smith’s “ Massachusets Mount”). 

A glance at Smith’s map (“ Description of New England,” 1616) 
shows conclusively that this “Massachusets Mount” — “the high 
mountain of Massachusit” — was not a mere “hummock” rising 
from a marsh. And here note that Smith’s name of the mountain 
was recorded at least two years before the pestilence of 1616-17, which 
induced Chickataubut’s removal from the ‘ ‘ Massachusetts Fields ” to 
the hummock at Squantum. 

As to the meaning of the name : Smith has very nearly translated 
it (if it be restricted to Great Blue Hill) by “ the high mountain.” 
But the form of the Indian name — Massachu-s-et — shows that it 
originally designated the country “ at or about the great hills” 
(plural), i.e. , the Blue Hills. The name, as I have before written, 
is formed from massa , “ great,” wadchu , “ mountain,” which in com¬ 
position loses its initial w, and in the plural becomes wadchuash (as 
Eliot wrote it) or adchuds , and the locative suffix et, “ at or near.” 
I am now confident, as I was not in 1867, that the s of the penult is 
a mark of the plural; i.e., that the name Massachusets means “ at 
(or near) the great hills.” (So the name Wachuset, now restricted 
to a single mountain, originally designated the country at or near the 
mountains and hills (now in Princeton and Westminster) of which 
Wachuset is the highest.) “ Massachuset ” includes the Indian 
plural sign ; but Smith and those who came after him added a final 
s, as a mark of the English plural or the English possessive. Smith 
(“ Description of N.E.,” 1616) distinguishes the “ high mountaine 
of Massachusit” and “Massachusets Mount;” in 1631 (“Advert, 
for the Unexper. Planters”) he names “ Massachuset ” as a place or 
“ country ”(p. 14) ; the natives, called “ the Massachusets ” (p. 15) ; 
and “ the Bay of the Massachusets” (p. 10). 

So, in Mourt’s Relation of a Voyage from Plymouth “to the 
Massachusets,” in 1621, this distinction is observed: “ the Massa¬ 
chuset bay,” “ Massachusets [possessive] Queene,” and “the Mas¬ 
sachusets” Indians (p. 57). In their own language, they were 



APPENDIX A. 


639 


“ Massachus£uck ” (as Roger Williams wrote it). On the title-pages, 
Indian and English, of the Psalter of 1709 — of which an Indian, 
“ James Printer,” was one of the correctors of the press—we have 
the two adjectives, Indian “ Massachusee,” against English “ Mas- 
sachusei.” In Rule’s Abnaki dictionary the same name is given to 
the locality (or rather to the colony and its capital) , “ MessatsooseA:, 
Baston,” the Abnaki -ek corresponding to Mass, —et, as the locative 
suffix. 

Now, about the “ arrow-head” story. Where young Josiah Cotton 
learned it we need not take the trouble to inquire. Nearly a hundred 
years before he wrote, Captain John Smith had named “ the high 
mountaine of Massachusit,” or ‘‘ Massachusets Mount,”—which 
certainly was not the “ hummock” or (as Hutchinson calls it) “ the 
rising upland, near Squantum; ” and this, I repeat, was before the 
traditional removal of the Sachem Chickataubut “ from Massachusets 
fields [or Mount Wollaston] where the greatest Sagamore in the 
country lived before the Plague,” to the “ arrow-head” hummock. 
Nearly seventy years after Smith’s coming, Roger Williams, who had 
known the Indians and their language for half a century, deposed 
that he “ had learnt that the Massachusetts was called so from the 
Blue Hills.” That the hummock, after Chickataubut’s removal to it, 
began to be called by the name of the tribe, is not improbable. It 
came to be, in fact, the Massachusets’ hummock. Then, conjectures 
began as to the origin of the name. The hummock was “ in the form 
of an arrow-head,” — such stone arrow-heads as were picked up by 
dozens or quarts on the site of every ancient Indian fort or village 
in New England. Next, an “ Indian” name for “ arrow-head ” was 
to be supplied; and this was found, by the proprietor of the hum¬ 
mock, in season for some “ learned gentlemen of Boston” to send it 
to Neal, for incorporation in his “ History of New England,” pub¬ 
lished in 1720. In that history, p. 580, he quotes this “ learned 
gentleman ” as authority for the statement that “ a small hill, or 
upland,” — the Squantum hummock, doubtless,— “ nowin possession 
of Capt. John Billings, lies in the shape of an Indian arrow’s-head, 
which arrow-heads were called in their language Mos , or Mans, with 
an o nasal, and a hill in their language is Wetuset, pronounced ac¬ 
cording to us, Wechuset; hence this great Sachem’s Seat was called 
Moswetuset , which signifies a hill in the shape of an Arrow’s Head,” 
etc., etc. On all which I note : — 

(1, and in repetition.) That the name Massachusit was first given, 
not to a “ small hill or upland ” or marsh “ hummoth,” but to one 
of “the cheef mountaines” of the coast, “the high mountaine of 
Massachusit.” 

(2.) That no word like Mos or Mons , signifying an “ arrow-head,” 
has yet been discovered in the Massachusetts dialect, or in any other 
nearly related Algonkin dialect. I say this with some confidence, 
for I have searched for the word in nearly forty dialects of this 
language. Mos with “o nasal” means what we call a Moose; 
Eliot wrote it Moos ; in modern Chippeway it is Mons (with o 


640 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


nasal) ; and so Roger Williams marked it “ Mobs,” his grave 
accent denoting a nasal. 

Moreover, what was the shape of “an Indian arrow’s head,” — 
triangular, lozenged, hastate, subulate ? The vocabularies are rich 
in arrow names. In one (western) Algonkin dictionary I find more 
than twenty names for arrows of various fashions. No Indian would 
name a hill or “hummoth” vaguely without defining the shape or 
style of the arrow-head designated. In Massachusetts (Plymouth), 
as “ Mourt’s Relation” tells us, of the arrows shot at the English 
in their first encounter with the Indians (1621) “ some were headed 
with brasse, others with Hart’s horn, and others with Eagles’ claws.” 
In Higginson’s “New England’s Plantation,” he wrote (1629) that 
the Indian arrows were “ some of them headed with bone, and some 
with brass.” 

(3.) That “ a hill in their language is” not Wetuset; nor was 
“ Wetuset, pronounced according to us Wechusett.” A hill or moun¬ 
tain was, in their language, wadchu (Eliot and Cotton) ; in the 
plural, wadchuash , as Eliot wrote it, or, in composition, wadcliu’s; 
with the locative suffix, wadchusit, “ at (or on) the mountains or 
hills.” 

(4.) Wadchu loses its initial W in composition. Even if “ Mos” 
meant “ arrow’s head,” — which it did not, — “ Mos-wetuset ” would 
not be good Indian, for “a hill in the shape of an arrow’s head.” 
For a “great mountain” (Rev. viii. 8) Eliot wrote Mis-adchu 
(= Missi, or Massa -f- wadchu), —not Mis-wadchu; and in Luke 
iii. 5, “ Misadchu Jcah wadchu ,” for “mountain and hill.” 

(5.) Neal’s informant, though he may have been “ a learned gen¬ 
tleman of Boston,” was certainly ignorant of the Massachusetts 
language, and his authority on the analysis of an Indian name is 
worthless. 

Your urgency has induced me to give more time and to write more 
pages on a point which seems to me clear enough, than I would 
otherwise have consented to do. But please don’t ask me to re¬ 
state, again, the grounds of my assurance that the name of Massa- 
chuset designated the vicinity of the “ great hills ” of Milton and 
Quincy, and that the Great Blue Hill was Smith’s “ high mountaine 
of Massachusit” of 1614. 

Very truly yours, 

J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL. 

Rev. A. K. Teele. D.D.. Blue Hill. Mass. 




APPENDIX B. 


THACHER’S JOURNAL. 


T HE journal of Rev. Peter Thacher, the first pastor of 
Milton, has been in the possession of a citizen of Milton, 
it is believed, for more than half a century, and is by him 
contributed to our history. In the preceding pages it is often 
referred to, quotations from it being interspersed throughout 
the volume; but otherwise it has not been made public. 

The owner of the journal has seen fit to suppress some entries 
of a private and family nature, and to confine the present issue 
of it to matters strictly connected with the affairs of Milton. 
While these omissions are but few and unimportant, they 
nevertheless compel us to offer the journal in an imperfect 
form. 


REY. PETER THACHER’S JOURNAL. 

[Begun at Barnstable January , 1679 .] 

Received of Mr Peter Thacher ten Pounds for transporting his goods 
from Barnstable to Milton, and I have received also full satisfaction for 
whatever the said Mr Thacher has at any time had of me this 30 th day of 
November 1680 Barnabas Lathrop. Old Mr Batt was interred about two 
oclock. Wife & I dined at Mr Daviess. — Mr. Mather came to me & desired 
me to go with him to see fathers picture, at brothers. 

Boston April 25, 1679 Dr. Butler let my blood. 

“ “ 29 “ this evening was the first time of our playing at 

nine pins in our alley. Mother Oxenbridge was to see us and promised the 
child a silver rattle or whistle 

April 30. 1679. I spoke at Goodwife Bumsteads this night, I paid 5/ 6 
for a pack of nine pins and bowle. 

May 2. S r Rawson & I began to clasify my fathers libraiy. May 5 
this day the first ship came from England 

May 7, 1679 I bought an Indian of Mr Checkley and was to pay £5. a 
month after I received her and five pounds more in a quarter of a year 

May 13 Berry came in from England, the fore noon I spent looking after 
letters from England 

May 14. This night Margaret an Indian servant came to live with me. 
this day Mr James Sherman was ordained at Sudbury. May 20 Mr Easta- 
brook settled at Concord. June 9. Mr Willard & Dr Butler made an end 
of appraising my fathers Library in the afternoon my wife & I and Mr 
Grindall Rawson l’ide to Goodman Gates, in the evening Mr Torey & wife 


642 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


came to lodge at our house. June 25 This day Mr Huckings was with me 
privately to discourse concerning Barnstable.. 

June 26. John Lovewell of Barnstable & his wife was with me. I was 
at Mr Houghs funeral, and then went to the contract of Mr Thomas Hales 
with Mrs Rebecca Rawson Mr Willard contracted them. 

July 1.1779. I was very sick andsent for Dr Avery. —Mr. Hales married 
to-day by Mr Wilson of Medfield. 

July 15. My dear & I went to Pembertons and had a fine treat there. 
July 18. This day I was twenty eight years old. July 21. I went and 
prayed with Mrs Hayward after which she sent me a pot of honey for my 
cold. 

July 22. Mr Ware and Mr Keith of Bridgewater came. July 24. This 
day my dear & Mrs Clark went to see Mrs Shrimpton at her Island. 

July 28. This day there was an. Overseers meeting at Cambridge about 
Page and other scholars. 

July 29. This day Mr Willard was married to Mrs Eunice Ting. 

Aug. 7. occurred the great fire immense loss. 

Aug. 12. I was at Commencement. I waited upon Gov. Winslow and 
Esq r Dudley from Roxbury Edw d Oakes made a Salutatory Oration. 

Aug 18. 1679 Came home and found my Indian girl had liked to have 
knocked my Theodora on head by letting her fall, whereupon I took a good 
walnut stick and beat the Indian to purpose, till she promised to do so no 
more. 

Aug. 19. Leftenant Lawthrope and Mr Dimmick came as messengers 
from Barnstable to renew the call of me unto the work of the Ministry, and 
brought a letter from the Congregation unto me, whereupon I went and 
advised with Mr Mather and Mr Willard that night. 

Aug. 20. About six in the morning the Castle gave an alarm, whereupon 
the beacon was fired and the companies in arms, but it proved only from 
friendly ships from England. In the afternoon brother Thomas & I ride 
up to Cambridge to consult with Mr Oaks about my going to Barnstable, 
he advised me to take a weeks time to consider of it. 

Aug 21. I wrote a letter to Barnstable to return thanks for their affec¬ 
tion, and to desire a fortnight to consider of it ' 

Aug 22. Mr Willard told me that Mr Hinckley informed him that one 
third of the people did not vote for to give me a call to Barnstable, there¬ 
upon I went to advise with Elder Rainsford about it 

Aug. 24. Chose messenger to Synod with Capt Hull; Maj Savage & 
myself were joined to the Elders. 

Aug 25. Went to Elder liainsford’s to hear his result about my going 
to Barnstable, who had discoursed with Capt. Hull & Deacon Elliot, he 
thought it might be well to go up and try. 

Aug 29. My brother Ralph & I came on our way towards Duxbury dined 
at Mr Fisks went to Weymouth and discoursed with Mr. Torrey about 
Barnstable 

Sep 1, 1679. My brother &I went to Plymouth to have our horses shod. 

Sep. 2. Mr Cotton advised me to go my journey to-day lest Mr Hinckley 
should think me too forward to return my answer. 

Sep. 3. We took leave of Mr Cotton and began our journey towards 
Barnstable, on the way we met Mr Ilaeklings who was sent by the chh for 
my answer, he turned "back with us, went to Cousin Thachers at Yarmouth. 

Sep. 5. Mr Dimmock came from Barnstable and we went with him to 
Barnstable. Mr Hinckley came but would not advise me to come or stay. 
I told him I was not under great temptation to remove, having divers other 
motions made to me nearer Boston. 

June 27. 1680. I preached both parts of the day at Milton 2 Peter 3-15 



APPENDIX B. 


643 


was ill all day, yet God was pleased comfortably to help me through the 
work of the day. I was much spent when I came to Mr Swifts 

June 28. 1680. This morning Goodman Tucker the two Blakes Mr 
Holman Goodman Sumner Tho s Swift and another of the Church came to 
give me thanks for my labors and to request me to settle amongst them, 
and I gave them encouragement that I would, but prefixed no time, only 
promised that I would write them word when they should expect me with 
my family after I got home, so desiring them to spend some time in extraor¬ 
dinary prayer to God for me that 1 might come to them in the fullness of 
the blessing of the Gospel of Peace, I took leave of them and went to Boston 
calling to see Mr Flint as I went for Lydia Chapin, she and I went to Wey¬ 
mouth that night, and just as we entered Braintree we met Mr Barker and 
G. M. Troup who informed of the health of my family, and Goodman 
Troup went back again with Lydia & myself to Mr Torreys where we 
lodged that night and were very kindly entertained. 

June 30. Came home to Barnstable 

July 1 st Divers of the Town went to the Deputy Govenor (Hinckley) 
and spoke very home to him, told him he must now act or Barnstable was 
undone — they were never like to have a Minister while he was in Town. 

Sep. 8.1680. This day my dear, myself Theodora Lydia began our journey 
to Milton. We went from Mr Allines and had a great company of horse 
with us, seven and fifty horse and twelve of them double went with us to 
Sandwich, and there got me to go to prayer with them, and I think none of 
them parted with me with dry eyes — we lodged that night at Mr Dexters, 
were very entertained. 

Sep 9, 1680. That day Mr. Barnabas Lawthrope began his voyage to 
Milton with my goods, got to the Castle that night, and we set forward on 
our journey and got well that night to Trasseys at Duxbury. 

Sep. 10. We came to Mr. Torreys where we ate, and Goodman Crane 
before to acquaint them of our coming, that night we came safe and well to 
Milton, blessed be the Lord, the morning Mr Lawthrope came with our 
goods, and Quartermaster Swift got them all safely into the house that 
night, we lodged at Mr Swifts, our whole family. 

Sep. 11. Mr Lawthrope came thither to see us the morning we came to 
the ministerial house, the two Blakes lodged there all night to secure the 
goods, divers hands came to help us. Goodman Tucker brought some cur¬ 
rant wine and cakes and a loaf of bread. Goodman Crane sent a cheese, 
and an apple pie and some turnips & bread. Young Daniels sent a qiiart 
of wine. Mr Holman a quarter of mutton and some tobacco. Mr Swift 
brought us a joint of roast mutton for supper & some beer. 

Sep. 17. I attended Mr Flints funeral. 

“ 24. Old Goodman Yose gave me a barrel of cider and some 

honey. 

Oct. l 6t . I bought a little mare for my dear, gave £2. in the evening 
came home from Boston to Milton my dear. Lydia & the child rode upon 
the old mare & I upon the other. 

Oct. 4. Major Gookin & his son David were to see me. 

Oct. 5. I rid to Weymouth lecture — heard Mr Adams, Mr Hobart 
prayed — afterwards we ate some cake & smoked. Mr Mighill Mr Fiske 
prayed after which we supped & I came home. 

Oct. 8. I tried to teach my mare to amble by cross spanning of her. 

Oct. 11. Jonathan Gulliver killed & dressed" us a hog. 

Oct. 15. Mr. Rawson came to see me and I spake to him to preach. — in 
the evening Mr Swift Mr Holman and brother Newton came as Messengers 
from the Church to give me a call to office. 

Oct. 16. My dear went to Boston and carried home Mary Gallope — 


644 


HISTORY OF MILTON . 


Brother Thomas Mr Ravenscroft & Thomas Savage dined with me. Good¬ 
man Gulliver sent me a quarter of brave mutton. 

Oct. 21. I went to Goodman Tiffanys for one of his sons James to live 
with me. I was to perfect him in reading, and to teach him to write. 

Oct. 25. Goodman Newton and Goodman Spere were daubing. 

Oct. 27. They trained at Milton, after which divers young men came in 
to see me. 

Nov. 3. 1680. My dear went to Boston — divers brought wood —ten 
cutters, and three carters. 

Nov. 7. Mr Thornton preached for me both parts of the day, this was 
the first help I had since I came hither. 

Nov. 17. Mr Whitman told of a blazing star. 

“ 19. Extremely cold 1 lost two turkeys. 

“ 21. This day we had the first snow. Sam 1 Pitchers wife was 

buryed to-day. 

Nov. 22. I had five carts carting me wood— Goodman Sumner & his 
cart — Goodman Tucker & his cart, Goodman Man’s, Goodman Crane and 
Widow Wadsworths cart. They brought ten loads and supped with us. 

Nov. 25. General Thanksgiving, three or four house service — we had 
at Supper Goodmen Stores Man Tiffany Salisbury, Jordan, Heuchyway and 
their wives, and Goody Salisbury. 

Nov. 28. Preached at Dorchester and dined with Mr Stoughton. 

Dec. 1 st I paid for gravestones for my dear Bathsheba and sent them to 
Barnstable. 

Dec. 13. There was a town meeting and the town expressed a desire of 
my continuing amongst them. 

Dec. 14. This night I saw the comet in the west in the evening — it had 
an extremely long & broad blaze, pale of color, swift in motion. 

Dec. 20. Mr Capen preached for me in the morning. Mr Risk was to 
see me and told me that Gov Winslow died last Saturday. 

1680. Dec. 27. this night brother Sheafes house was burnt & himself 
wife & child were forced to skip out of the window — Goodman Dorsets 
house was burnt, William Oxenbridges blown up. 

1680-81 Jan. 4. The Church of Milton came to treat with me about 
settlement here. I told them they must consider whether they would have 
a ruling Elder, Deacons, and what Church discipline they would fall into. 

Jan. 5. General Court had a fast & the elders. 

Jan 9. Sabbath — I preached—in the evening the congregation sig¬ 
nified their desire to have me stay by vote, it was general — none in the 
negative. 

Jan. 13. Mr Holman and the Quartermaster came in to see me. 

Jan. 15. Soloman Rainsford & Goodman Mason came and spent some 
time with me. 

Jan. 16. In the evening Sam 1 Gallop came to see me and told me that 
brother Twing was drowned going to Rhode Island in a canoe. 

Jan. 20. Goody Man delivered of a daughter. I spake to John Redman 
of being in drink. 

Jan. 31. Brother Tucker, Brother Blake & Brother Sumner were with 
me as Messengers of the Church to renew my call to office. 

Feb. 3. Brother Sumner & old Goodman Gulliver were with me. 

Feb. 7. Brother Swift was at our house all day to wait for the bringing 
of the Ministers pay — Goodman Peck paid his whole rate 5/ of it in money 
which is the first money I rec d on their account since I came to Milton — 
Widow Wadsworth paid one pound in linen cloth. 

Mch. 8. 1681. Sarg‘Badcock GoodmCrane, Gulliver, Swift, Messengers 
from the Town about settlement. 



APPENDIX B. 


645 


March. 13. I propounded a contribution for Goodman Corbins son in 
Turkish captivity. 

March 25. They trained at Milton and shot after twelve at night which 
frightened my dear. 

Mai’ch 31 This day myself and family kept a private fast for my dear 
that she might be preserved in childbed, for Theodora, and for guidance in 
settlement & to renew our covenant. 

April. 15. I expressed my willingness to accept the call 

April 18. Concluded to send my two mares to the W. Indies 

April 22. Nat. Pitcher went to Dorchester to get Mr Capen to preach. 

May 6. Goodman Man & I yrent to Mr Billings to see a horse. 

May 11. I went to election, heard Mr. Brinsmeade Major Gookin was 
chosen Maj General — Mr. Ting was left out — Maj Appleton was chosen 
Magistrate. 

May 13. I bought a horse of Goodman Billing, gave £5. 

May 15. I went to Goody Bents funeral after meeting . 

May 17. 1681. God sent me a son Oxenbridge about half an hour after 
eleven at noon. 

May 20. This day the ordination beer was brewed. 

May 25. Walley came in from England 

May 30. This day the gates were hung, they made an arbor to entertain 
the messengers of the Churches. 

June 1. 1681. This day 1 was ordained [though most unworthy] Pastor 
of the Church in Milton —my text 2 Tim. 4 & 5. Mr Mather called the 
votes. Old Mr Elliot, Mr Mather, Mr Torrey, Mr Willard laid hands on. 
Mr Torrey gave the charge, Mr Willard gave the right hand of fellowship, 
we sang the 24 Psalm & I gave the blessing. They dined at my house in 
the arbour. 

June 2. This day the Chui'ch and most of the Town dined with me — 
after dinner we sung Psalm 22. 

June 3. This day discoui'sed with Quartermaster and Mr Holman 
about the difficulty that was likely to attend us in respect to Sargent Bad- 
cock. 

June 5. I preached Romans 7, 25 — My son Oxenbridge was the first 
I baptized then Soloman Blake & Anne Tolman which was the first time 
that the ordinance of baptism was administered in Milton. 

June 6. I went to Artillery Election. Mr Richardson preached — the 
ministers dined at Wings with the Artillery & I among them. 

June 12. Baptized Peter Talbuts daughter Dorathy, and Edward Yoses 
daughter Martha 

June 19, 1681. This day I administered the Lords Supper which was 
the first time it ever was administered in Milton & that I ever administered 

— there was about four score communicants — in the afternoon Mr Cotton 
my pupil preached for me. 

June 24. I went to the raising of the Widow Gills Mill. 

July l’st. Quartermaster Swift brought me ten shillings, for Goodman 
Crane. Goodwife Kiney made her relation before Sargent Blake & myself, 
which we judge would not do. 

July 2. Goodman Gulliver sent me a quarter of lamb — Sargent Vose 
a calves head, Goodman Kiney brought me a roasting pig and two chickens 

— Goodwife Redman some carrots. 

July 4. Mr Fiske gave me a swarm of bees. 

Thomas Swift fetched them for me. 

July 7. Genei’al fast. Mr. Minot preached. 

July 8. My dear & I wentBrush Hill — there was a conference meeting 
at brother George Sumners. 


646 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


July 9. I got Jonathan Gulliver to dress my spayed sow which was 
sorely bit. 

July 11. Father Vose was with me I spake to him to acknowledge his 
passionateness in the congregation. 

July 15. John Redman came to see me, and I most solemnly charged 
him to take heed of company & drink. 

July 16. The sun looked very strangely as if it were copperas, it was 
a smoky brazy day, one might for some hours look on the sun without 
overcoming the eyesight. 

July 17. Difficulty about Father Yoses admission to the Church. 

July 18. This day I am thirty years old. 

July 24. This day Mr Urian Oakes that beaming and shining light 
finished his course of a putrid fever. 

July 26. Mr Urian Oakes was interred—Mr John Cotton my pupil 
made an oration. 

July 27. Attended a Ministers meeting at Mr Wentman’s in Hull. 

July 28. Barret came from England 

Aug. 2. Went to Boston to see my brother newly come from New¬ 
foundland. 


Aug. 5. This day Brother Seabury departed this life. 

Aug. 9. I went to Commencement and lodged at Mr Bowles in Rox- 
bury. 

I went to Mrs. Stoughtons funeral, and had a pair of gloves 


Aug. 10. 
given me. 
Aug. 13. 
Aug 15. 
Aug. 21. 


Paul White wounded at my house. 

My brother and I went a gunning after pidgeons, killed five. 
u We had a contribution for Dr. Swan £2-2-8. 

Sep. 7. I went to Weymouth to the ministers meeting at Mr. Torreys 
present Mr Wilson Mr Torrey Mr. Eeith, Mr Fiske, Mr Hobart, Mr. Whit¬ 
man myself, Mr Adams, Mr Danforth. 

Sep. 10. Mr John Foster the principal was buried. 

Sep. 22. Chaney was hanged for a rape, two negroes burnt, one of 
them was first hanged; this day Star, Goodman Hencheways son-in-law 
came into our house who had drunk too much, so I dealt roundly with him 
for it. 

Oct. 18. Brother Clap and his wife, brother Paul and his wife and we 
went upon Blue Hills to the pillar of stones and Quartermaster came to us 
there & divers others, there we dined, we came home by Brush Hill, they 
came into our house and drank and smoked it. 

Oct. 19. Neighbor Redman killed my cow, and neighbor Teig Crehore 
helped him. Goodman Wetherell of Taunton brought me a horse which 
I gave him five pounds for 

Oct. 20. Got my horse docked 

Oct. 22. Lydia went on the new horse to Roxbury for salt 

Oct. 24. Hannah Atherton came to town to write of me. I spent the 
forenoon in shewing of her 

Oct. 26. My dear and I went with Quarter Master Swift & his wife, Mr. 
Holmans & his wife Brother Clap & his wife with divers from Dorchester to 
the Castle to see Capt. Clap, were very kindly entertained with a great 
feast, & returned home that night. W m Redman spoke to Lydia Chapin 
in order to marriage. 

Nov. 2. Lydia went to Roxbury fulling mill and fetched home the 
cloak. 

Nov. 4 1681. Father Gulliver Quartermaster Swift, Mr Holman & I 
laid out my twenty acres of land — it runs up to the highway by Ezra 

t.ha.t siHf> is fnrtv rnrls wiHfi nnrl tlivpfi snnrfi rnrls on the 



APPENDIX B. 


647 


side, butted with the river on one end, and with the highway on the other 
end. 

Nov. 6. I baptized Goodman Tiffanys children Ebenezer James & 
Thomas & Hezekiah—John How son of Brother How — Goody Pitcher 
died. 

Nov. 7. I went to pray with our Military company, then went and dined 
with Sargent Badcock and Sarg‘ Yose at John Daniels — this evening 
Thomas Swift came to live with me I was to give him £12. for a year 4 in 
money and 8 at the shop. 

Nov. 10. W“ Daniels brought a load of hay from Ben Badcock. 

Nov. 15. I went to Boston, spoke to Mr Willard about taking in some 
of the Church of Lancaster 

Nov. 18. Went and dined with select men at John Daniels. 

Nov. 30. Joseph Tucker came and mended my study door. 

Dec. 4. Sabbath. I preached. I appointed the Church to meet the next 
day at my house at 11 oclock to pray for Father Tucker who was very 
sick. 

Dec. 22. 1681. I spoke to Mr Addington to draw me up a deed of the 
twenty acres of land given me by Milton 

Dec. 25. Sabbath. I spent some time in- extraordinary prayer for the 
persecuted people of God in France &c. 

Dec. 28. Nat. Pitcher & I went to Brush Hill on foot. 

Jan. 2. 1682. My dear & I, Lydia & Thomas went to Boston to Mrs 
Daves funeral, he gave me a scarf & gloves, and my dear a pair of gloves. 
Asaph Elliot had my Bay horse. Mercy Smith stayed with the children. 

Jan. 10. I read in the forenoon, then Mr Hore desiring me, I went to 
Nat. Pitchers to a debate between Ben Badcock & Mr Hore about the 
Quakers opinions. Sargent Badcock & I was Moderators— I showed their 
opinions as far as we went and refuted them. 

Jan. 16. Nat Pitcher & I went to see Father Tucker — he acquainted me 
with his spiritual state, the great discouragements he had been under, and 
the comfort God gave him & the ground of it. 

Jan. 17. I was going to Braintree to Mr. Fiskes, I met Mr. Torrey 
coming to see me, & Father Tucker, so I turned back with him, and we 
came to our house and drank a cup of wine & strong beer, and we went to 
see Father Vose & Father Tucker, and Mr Torrey went to prayer with him. 
I was prevented from going to the meeting of Mr Hore & Ben. Badcock at 
Nat. Pitchers. Father Tucker told me he did verily believe he was the 
better for my prayer, the day before, for the fever presently left him, & 
swelling of his legs was down. 

Jan. 19. 1682. I went to Boston lecture, heard Mr Mather S r . —This day 
the overseers chose Mr Torrey President of the College, and desired me to 
send him a letter, which they delived to me, of it. 

Jan. 20. I went to Weymouth, Mr Fiske with me, and acquainted Mr 
Torrey with his being chosen President &c 

Jan. 26. Christopher Wadsworth began to learn of me to cast accounts— 
in the afternoon my dear & I went to see Father Tucker 

Feb. 11. Father Tucker & Sargt Badcock were reconciled with many 
tears, the deed was signed. 

Feb. 15. Divers friends, 16 helped me to clear some Meadow Ground, I 
went and carried them a dram, & then went to Father Tuckers and prayed, 
heard of Major Savage sudden death. 

Feb. 20. Went to Major Savage funeral. 

27. Went to see Father Tucker & prayed with him. 


648 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


SECOND VOLUME. 

March 11.- 1682 Brother Tucker died this morning 1 before day. 13 
Brother Tuckers funeral. 

March 14. The freemen met at my house for the nomination of Majes- 
trates. 

March 16. Brother Ephraim Tucker was to see us brought us some 
butter and Currant wine, I had much spiritual discourse with him. 

March 17. 1682. Old Goodman Tileston blooded my horse — Dr Avery 
& his wife were to see us. 

March 20. I went to Braintree & visited Mr Fiske and Mrs Flint S r who 
was very sick. 

March 21. Thomas began to break up ground this day with my horse & 
John Redmans oxen, Charles drove. Neighbor Man and his plow were 
also at work for me. 

March 22. Mrs Flint S r sent for me, I borrowed neighbor Moris mare 
and went to her, so Capt Bracket and I made her will. 

March 23. Thomas (Swift) carried Lydia to Boston to be blooded, she 
was gone near half an hour (fainted) after blooding before she came to 
herself, my dear & I had jarring, the Lord humble me for my passion¬ 
ateness— neighbor Man ploughed forme with his four cattle & neighbor 
Daniel the days work of his oxen which were joined with neighbor Man’s 

March 27. Went up to Brush Hill, Ephraim Tucker came home with 
me and gave me four shillings gratis 

March 31. Brother George Sumner came and gave me a days ploughing. 

April 3. I went and prayed with Brother Swifts child — started for 
Barnstable — Brother Clap rid with me to Father Cranes. Nat Pitcher 
went with us, we arrived at Brother Thacher’s at Duxbury that night. 

April 11. Returned home. 

April 16. We had a contribution for Stephen Langley. 

April 18. M r Holman Mr Swift & I went to Punkapog & visited Brush 
Hill as we came home. 

W m Holbrook came to court Lydia Chapin. 

April 21. B. James Tucker complained of Patience Blake charging his 
wife with a lie, so I appointed Monday 2 oclock to hear it. 

April 23. Brother Swift & Br Roger Sumner accepted the office of 
deacon. 

April 26. Mr Fisk & Mr Quincy S r were to see me. 

May 1. 1682 Dr Butler and Mr Parsons came to see me. 

Mav 23. I went to goodman Cranes to the marriage of his daughter to 
Gilbar'd. — 

May 24. I went to the election at Boston, heard Mr. Willard preach — 
Mayor Pike was chosen Magistrate — Ministers dined at Mr Allens. 

May 25. Ministers Magistrate & Deputies spent five or six hours in prayer 
or preaching 

June 5. I went to Artillery election—Mr. Whitney of Billerica 
preached, I dined with them at Wings 

June 6. Br Thomas & I went to Duxbury; Cousin Thacher was chosen 
Magistrate, being election at Plymouth. Mr Auger preached it. 

June 8. Saw a multitude of locusts 

June 12. 1682. Went a strawberrying with divers others. 

June 17. Mr Holman sent me a quarter of lamb, Neighbor Man sent me 
a roasting pig. 

June 19. a great training in Boston Thos. Swift went to it. 

June 28. My dear & I went to Mr Danforths ordination in Dorchester 
— the Elders & Messengers of Churches met at Mr Stoughtons & chose Mr 



APPENDIX B. 


649 


Wilson to give the right hand of fellowship—Old Mr. Elliot gave the 
charge, Mr Elliot, Mr Wilson & Mr Mather laid on hands. Mr Danforth 
preached in the forenoon 2 Kings 2. 14 “ Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” 
Mr Increase Mather preached in the afternoon 

July 3. Mr Davis the Magistrate Mr Taylor, Mrs Betty & Mrs Margaret 
were this day to see us. 

July 10. I began the Greek Testament & read three chapters then went 
about my domestic concerns, paid an Indian to clear an acre for 18/ to 
make meadow of it. 

July 12. I w T ent to see what my Indian had done, this night Marchant 
Taylor hanged himself with a bridle raines. 

July 17. I went to Boston & got the 13 yards of cursey the piece of stuff, 
the piece of Dowlas & two knit waistcoats which Mr White sent me in 
Wild, & sent these home in neighbor Mans cart. 

July 19. 1682 This day Thomas Swift my man was induced to make 
away with himself. 

Aug 4 1. I went to Boston & gave Mr Daniel Taylor a Bill of Exchange 
to Mr. White in England for £30 & he was to give me £37.10 therefor — 
that night I rid home with Mr Stoughton and soe thro Dorchester. 

Aug 4 7. I w r ent & saw the Indians what measure they had cleared & 
there was two acres. I paid them 32/ in money & 3/ other pay. 

Aug 4 8. I went to Commencement. Mr Edward Oakes made the 
salutatory oration. Mr Increase Mather was Moderator who made an 
oration at evening. Mr Bernard made a valadictory oration. Mr Jona¬ 
than Danforth, Mr Oakes, Mr Ailing Mr Bernard took the degree of 
Master, a stranger spoke in public. 

Aug 4 11. I made a letter of dismission for Mary Leonard to the Church 
at Taunton. 

Aug 4 17. I went to Boston, heard Mr Bond in the morning, Mr Torrey 
saw a comet in the North East. 

Aug 4 24. I went to Boston, heard Mr Nehemiah Hubbard, sought about 
for a man, but could by no English servant, had the offer of a negro for 
£ 20 . 

Sep. 8. 1682. I was at the raising of Mr. Holman’s house. 

Sep. 11. I went to Brushill intending to see Brother Lewis but could 
get no pilot. 

Sep 14. I was at Boston fast & thanksgiving of the first and third 
church who are reunited. 

Nov r 21. 1682. This day five years I was married & desire to bless the 
Lord that brought us together & continued our lives & that hath given us 
three children and spared the lives of two of them. 

Dec. 4. — went as far as neighbor Jones’s. 

Dec. 11. This day there was a Town Meeting for choosing select men — 
five were chosen — they voted the third part of my three score & ten 
pound to be money & the first Tuesdays of Jan. Feb & March were to be 
pay days. 

Dec. 20. Neighbor Jordan had my horse to Boston that day. 

Dec. 25. This day my dear, Lydia Chapin & I have kept house together 
five years. 

Jan r 1 st 1683 Tuesday Br Eben r Clap brought me a load of coal brands 
from Sam. Pitchers. 

Jan. 2 Deacon Swift & Mr Holman advised me to buy 20 acres of land 
of Thomas Vose. 

Jan. 3 Deacon Sumner & his brother George advise me to buy the 
land though I gave £100. for it & the house & barn. 

Jan. 4. Sargeant Vose came to see me & we went to see his house & 


650 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


barn & land — so we made a bargain — he was to let me have 23 acres 
of land upon the brook to the end of the little meadow & so upon a square 
to brother Ezra Clap’s land & the house & barn, & to secure me a way to 
it — and I was to give him £100. in money to be paid in three years time, 
pay 6 in the hundred till it was paid. 

Jan 16.1683. I wentand showed Ebed where he should cut wood, & then 
went to the town meeting & prayed with them — they chose brother Hawton 
deputy for the General Court which was now called. Sargeant Badcock 
did publicly oppose me, was not for sending a deputy. 

Jan y 17 —there was an eclipse of the sun 

Jan y 29. . Brother Thomas Mr Tho 8 Savage Mr Chickley Mr Harris was 
to see me. I had some visitors from Brush Hill — that day we had a great 
thaw. 

Jan. 30. I got Charles Redman to ride to Dr. Averys at Dedham for 
Oxenbridge who was very sick. 

Feb. 1. This morning I whipped Ephraim forlying. 

Feb. 7. went to Boston & brought back leather to make me a pair of 
breeches. 

Feb. 13. I was at a fast of the General Court — Mr Torrey Mr Willard 
Mr Allen & Mr J. Mather officiated & Mr Elliot — we supped together at 
Wings. 

Feb. 20. I went to see Brother Hortan. 

Feb. 23. Deacon Sumner & Brother Manassah brought me each of them 
a load of coal brands (charcoal) 

March 1. Mrs. Clark the Midwife & woman were here. Mrs. Holman 
& Sister Thomas Vose lodged here all night, 

March 2. Midwife Clark went home behind neighbor Man upon my 
horse. 

March 6. Elizabeth was born. 

March 7. Mr Olford & his wife Mr Taylor and another gentleman came 
to see us. 

March 8. I went to Boston lecture, heard Mr Adams saw Governor 
Cranfield 

9. Sabbath — T baptized my daughter & mistook & called her Betty 
intending to say Elizabeth. 

12. This day the address to His Royal Majesty came to my hands to be 
subscribed by all 16 years old & upwards 

13. I attended the nomination of the magistrates & got the freemen 
there to set their names to the address. 

14. I read our patent — this day they trained at Milton — I went & read 
the petition or address to His Majesty— divers signed it—some would 
not— as J. Daniels, J. Fenno, W. Heiekaway Teige Crehore, Stephen 
Crane Jon a Badcock, John Jordan David Hines Edw d Vose &c, so I made a 
speech to them, then took leave — this day Sargent Badcock was nomi¬ 
nated for Captain — Lieutenant George Sumner for Ensign. 

March 19. Mr Fiske & I went to Major Clarks funeral. I had a pair of 
gloves given me. 

April 2. Sargent Blake & myself went to my pasture and righted up 
the hedge. 

April 7. Lidia sowed seed in the garden. 

10. Sargent Blake agreed to ground sill ray house & lay a double floor 
& new sleepers. 

April 11.1683. I was at the ministers meeting at New Cambridge at Mr 
Nehemiah Hobarts. 

12. Mr Mather gave me one of his books about the comet. 

23. I rid to Dr Swans to bleed Oxenbridge. 



APPENDIX B. 


651 


May 1. Neighbor Man & I went to Mr Quincys. I bought 2 heifers of 
him, was to give him £5. 5/ for them and their calves— we drove them 
home before us. 

4. The select men came & mended up my fence. 

11. Lidia went to Boston behind Nat Pitcher. 

12. Ebed & Ephraim began to help neighbor Man plant corn. 

15. Went & discourse with Mr Stoughton about business, in the after¬ 
noon began to plant corn. 

16. Election day —this was the first year Capt Fisher & Mr Woodbridge 
were magistrates. 

18. Made an end of planting my corn. 

21. This night my horse was stole by Peter Adams & sold to Soloman 
Phipps for 50/ 

24. Heard that Peter Adams was in prison for stealing my horse. 

26. Got neighbor Man to go for my horse, who brought him home 
with him. 

June 1. John Redman helped me weed corn. Dr. Swan let Oxenbridges 
blood. 

June 5. We got tobacco plants & set them. 

June 10. 1683. I was very ill — Sabbath—Congregation destitute — 
Dr Avery staid all night, I remained full of pain. 

June 12. Brother Thomas & wife Dr Pemberton & Mr Chickley & 
wife came to see me. 

June 13. The Church kept half the day in prayer for me — one part at 
Mr. Holmans— the other at brother Eben Claps. 

June 15 This day my brother Ralph & Thomas tried to get Dr. Win- 
throp but he was not at home. Dr Avery & Dr Allen came to see me. 

16. Dr. Avery gave me tarted Rhubarb — 

18. I began to gain strength — my negro Ebed ran away — Neighbor 
Man went after him. 

June 19. Brother Houghton met my negi'o by Cambridge. 

June 21. Two men brought the negro from Concord to my home I gave 
them 20/ 

June 22 — Mr Quincy & wife came to see me, and also Mr Sewall & 
Mr Daniel Quinsey. 

July 1 Sabbath I went to meeting heard Mr Munro 

July 12 This day I began to study, Mr Fisk, Mr Hobart, Mr Adams 
& Mr Danforth came to see me. 

July 15 Mr Payson preached both parts of the day for me. 

July 16. I went to J. Daniels and paid him 20/ 1 borrowed to pay for 
bringing home my negro, went to the Holmans & Deacon Swifts. 

July 17 Mother Tucker brought me some Indian beans which were the 
first I have eat this year. 

July 18 1683 This day I was thirty two years old, have come to be 
humbled I have lived so long and done no more for God, but have done so 
much against him, — this day I went to see goodman Tileston Sen & 
Jun r both—the evening Mr Jonathan Russell came to see me & brother 
Ralph & wife came to see us. 

July 21 Neighbor Redman cut my hair & trimmed me. 

July 22 This morning I sent Ephraim upon my horse for Mr Cotton 
Mather who came & preached both parts of the day for me. Cousen Sum¬ 
ner came with him. 

July 23. — this day Br. Rolph & sister came from Dedham & we went to 
see my house & land. 

July 24. Ebed went to work for Richard Smith who preferred to give 
me two shillings in money for it and promised to give me a shilling for 


652 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


Ephraim who helped him also — went to Brush Hill in the afternoon & into 
no house only Deacon Sumners & Mother Tuckers. 

July 31. I bought a lamb of Peter Talbut and paid him five shillings 
for the lamb. John Redman killed it. 

Aug* 1. This day I had three & twenty reapers divers of them staid not 
to dinner, some did, they reaped all my English grain by noon. 

Aug 2. I went to Boston lecture, after lecture the ministers dined with 
the Magistrates I with them. 

Aug 14 This day Mr Rogers was installed President of Harvard Col¬ 
lege. 

Aug 22 — In the afternoon my dear, Nat Pitcher, Lydia & I went to our 
home. 

Aug 24. I was called over to Widow Redmans who, they judged was 
dying. 

Aug. 26. 1683. I baptized Tim° Man son of J. Man. 

Aug 27. The wife of Goodman How brought us a roasting pig. 

Sep 3. I was sent for & went to pray with Brother Atherton. 

Sep 8. Deacon Swift and Goodman Henceway brought me each a load 
of hay. 

Sep. 13. I was at Boston and my dear came to me upon John Red¬ 
mans mare. 

Sep 19. Went to Barnstable to Mr Jonathan Russells ordination. 

Sep 26. I paid Dr. Avery three pounds in silver for physic, in time of 
my sickness. 

Sep. 27. I was at a fast in the first Church Boston occasioned by the 
flood at Connecticut, & sickness, & distress of the people of God in Eng¬ 
land. 

Oct. 5. This day my dear & I went to Boston to Capt Hulls funeral & as 
the Magistrates and Ministers were in his great room the surroundings 
cracked through & the floor sank an inch under us — I had a scarf & gloves. 

Octo 8. this day we finished gathering corn, got it all into the house, 
that night we paid E-this day Capt Foster of Dedham finished his course. 

Octo 11. 1683. Father (Robert) Yose died. 

Octo 23. I kept a secret fast, God was pleased to discover much of my 
own wickedness to me by reason of original & actual sin — this day our 
Agents Mr Joseph Dudley & J. Richards Esq r came safe to Boston, blessed 
be the holy name of God. 

24. I saw & spake with our agents, they bring news that a quo war- 
ranto is gone out against our patent. 

27. About 9 o’clock in the morning began a dismal fire in Boston 
which consumed the warehouses from the drawbridge to Mr Nowells. 

31. The Ministers met at Mr Torreys & spent it in fasting & prayer — 

Nov 1. I went to Boston lecture, heard Mr Willard, dined at Brother 
Thachers after lecture — this was the first time I saw and spake with Cou¬ 
sin Loder I met with him at Mr Clarks. 

Nov 5. We chose Bro William Blake for deputy. 

Nov 6. Mr Torry & Mr Whitman calling me I went to Dedham to the 

ministers meeting at Mr-after supper Mr Fisk and I went to lodge at 

Dr A very s. 

Nov 8. Deacon Sumner came to inform me that the General Court in¬ 
tended to keep fast tomorrow & desired to have the company of the elders 
with them & our deputy desired the Deacon would do me word of it. 

Nov 9. I went to Boston, was at the fast of the General Court & Elders, 
after service we eat a bit of cake & drank a glass of wine — the Governor 
proposed if the patent was forfeited by law, it was best to resign it up to 
his Majestys service. 




APPENDIX B. 


653 


Nov 10. Theodora & Oxenbridge exceedingly ill, that night I had hard 
tugging with my heart. 

Nov 11. I baptised Deacon Swifts son Samuel. 

12. I blooded Ebed by the temples. 

Nov 14. Goodman Billings died. 

16. Brother Clap & I went to goodman Billings funeral. I paid Mr 
Q.uinsey £5. for the two heifers I bought of him last spring. 

Nov 18. God helped me extraordinarily to wrestle for the life of neigh¬ 
bor Mans son Timothy. 

Nov 19. Mr Danforth & Elder Humphrey met at my house to hear some 
differences between goodwife Blake (Edw d ) & some of Dorchester & 
Milton. 

Nov 22. A general fast through the colony. 

Nov. 26. I went to Boston to get Mr Baldston Mr. William Wharton 
and Mr Richard Johnson to witness the power of Attorney I sent to Mr 
Jonathan Leigh in London about some estate in England. 

Dec 3. Nineteen men cutting & carting wood for me, and all supped. I 
paid Sargent Yose the interest of £100. 

Dec 5. Mr Crosby came & laid out my 23 acres of land bought of Sar¬ 
gent Yose on the plain, in presence of Sargent Yose & I Brother Houghton 
J. Daniels Henry Crane & Henry Yose. 

6. Clear & cold. I went to set Ebed to work in beginning to clear 
that which I bought of Sarg' Vose & at my return I found a College scholar 
viz. Holbrook at my house waiting for me with whom I spent most of 
the afternoon. 

Dec r 11. I visited Sam Gulliver who purchased six yews & their lambs in 
the spring. 

12. John Pitcher brought me a new wheelbarrow. 

21. Bro Ralph & my family kept a private fast, in the evening went 
to see Sister Gulliver who was very sick. 

25. I carried my wife to Mr Fisk then went to the Weymouth lecture 
that was the first lecture in the new Meeting house. Mr Torrey preached. 

26. Mr Davis & lady Mr Taylor & his Mr J. Davie Mr 8 Marg' Davie 
Cousen Loder Brot. Tho 5 & Sister Mr Palmer Mr Cowell Mr T. Richards & 
the coachman were at our house to dinner & the coach going home overset. 

Jany 7, 1684. This day there were some who cut wood & carts that 
brought wood for me there was four carts, and they went each twice, they 
dined with us & I went to visit Brother Crane who had rec d . hurt from a fall 
from a horse. 

Jan 7 1684. 9. Brother Atherton brought me three loads of wood, so that 
in all the Town hath given me 29 loads of wood this winter. 

11. The brethren of Brush Hill kept a fast. 

14. Mr Nat Gookin was to see me, 1 had a quarter of beef of Plats which 
weighed seven score & seventeen pounds. Frank Gulliver brought it from 
Boston to me in his cart. 

15. The deacons & select men went about to see what they could get by 
subscription to build me a house. 

23. Mr & Mrs Taylor & my wife & I went up to Brush Hill where we 
left our wives. Sargent Blake, Brother Clap, Mr Taylor & I went out to 
see for deer, but saw none & at our return we supped at Sarg' Blakes 

Feb 1. 1684 The freemen of the town met at my study about the King’s 
declaration, which was afterwards communicated to the inhabitants of the 
Town the same day. 

5. I went and prayed with Timothy Man who was dying. 

12. We had a fast in Milton Mr Jonathan Badcock touched by the ser¬ 
mon came to me. 


654 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


14. Ephraim went to Town & carried a bushel of Corn to Mr Clark the 
potercr.— 

15. Ephraim carried 6 bushels of barley to Dea. Bass. 

18. Paid Sargt Vose £1 on account of interest for the £100. 

22. Went & prayed with the town who met about the setting of the 
meeting house. Mr Torrey was here to see me from the Governor to be at 
Boston next Wednesday by 8 oclock in the morning, the magistrates & 
elders being there to meet. 

25. Went to see what Obed did in the woods 

26. Went & paid Sargent Vose all I owed him for interest 

27 Mr Torrey Mr Fisk & I went to Boston to the meeting of the Magis¬ 
trates & Ministers, heard the Magistrates vote which was so misrepresented 
in the County & the Lye Bills which we bore our testimony against. Mr 
Fisk & I lodged at Mr Willards. 

Mch 3 1684 I catechised the young men, maids, & children 

4. This was the last pay day for my rate Deacon Swift was here to 
receive what was brought in, I spent much of my day with him & those that 
came in. 

10 th I went to see what Ebed did, after dinner my dear & I went to 
father Gullivers to Mr Holmans neighbor Kinsleys & to Deacon Swifts. 

11. Was at the meeting house at the nomination of the Magistrates. 

13. My dear & I went to Brush Hill visiting. 

17. I had much serious discourse with Sarg. Vose about his not joining 
the Church. In the afternoon we went to lay out the parallel line between 
him & I Bro Houghton helped us. 

21 It was bad weather, extreme storm of wind snow & rain & an ex¬ 
treme high tide. 

25. Bro George Sumner sent me two white pidgeons. 

26. My wife and I went to Boston, we lodged at Mr Howells that 
night. 

27. Cousin Loder gave my wife & I each a pair of gloves, it was so 
sore a storm after lecture that we could not come home but lodged at Mr 
Davis 

28. Sam Jones & wife were with me in order to come into full com¬ 
munion 

April 4. My dear went to see Goodwife Jordan & Goodwife Crane. 

April 7. I sent Theodora’s Dame for her schooling from the first of 
March. John Redman ploughed for me with my horse & his mare & Obed 
helped carry dung for him. 

April 9. 1684. I was sent for goodman Ellen, who, they, thought was 
dying — this day John Redman sowed two bushels of barley for me 

10. Nat. Pitcher & I in the afternoon went & planted a few appletrees 
at my house. 

14. My dear & Lydia went to Boston to speak to Dr Winthrop & Dr 
Avery about Oxenbridge. I went to see Sam. Babcock & David Hensher 
who ploughed for me at my house. 

15. Oxenbridge took a vomit which we had from Dr Winthrop which 
wrought very kindly six times upward & five downwards 

16. I was three times at neighbor Daniels with his child which was very 
ill & died that evening. 

25 I went to see Brother Edward Blake who had bruised himself sadly 
by a fall. 

29. I oversaw Obed & Ephraim in their work. 

30. Planted before my door, put in my votes for Magistrates. 

May 1. I went to Boston lecture, heard Mr Adams dined with the Mag¬ 
istrates. 



APPENDIX B. 


655 


2. My clear wife was taken with the fever & ague, and my daughter 
Elizabeth hath had it for about a week. 

5. I have had 25 loads of dung carried out & put into the hole by five 
hands & a team besides my own servants. 

6. John Redman went for Dr Avery for to come to my wife. I went & 
prayed with Sister Haughton the Lord helped me much to wrestle with 
himself. 

May 7 1684. Election at Boston, I went & heard Mr Ilale preach — We 
dined at Mr Allen’s Mr Dudley Brown & Geding Esq. were left out & five 
new Magistrates chose Cook Johnson Hatehenson Sewell & J. Hathorne. 
This day Peter Clark came in from London 

May 12. 1684. I was riding upon Mr Holmans horse to see his daughter 
& the horse stumbled & fell over & over but I had no hurt. 

May 21. I went to Boston, bought my dear silk for a mantle & myself 
hair camblet for a coat. 

27. 1 was at Weymouth lecture, after which I rid up to Brush Hill to 
see brother Lions daughter. 

June 5. We had a general fast in the Colony in respect to the season 
which had been extreme wet & cold. 

June 9. My dear & I went a strawberrying with some friends of Brush 
Hill. 

June 11. This day Mr Capen was ordained at Topsfield. 

June 20. I was at the raising of Mr Holmans barn. 

23. John Williston & his boy ploughed for me. 

30. Sargent Yose & I went to Boston to sign writings. Bro Thomas is 
bound with me to pay £100, at or before 1 Oct 1685, for the house & 
land which I bought of him. 

July 1. Mr Torry & I wept to Commencement together the President 
was taken very sick, so Mr Hubbard of Ipswich was forced to supply his 
place. 

July 2. We had a great eclipse of the Sun almost total — This day Mr 
Rogers President of Harvard College died about the time of the suns going 
out of the eclipse. 

July 8. This day the Major General & old Mr Elliot were at my house 
to speak to me about preaching a lecture to the Indians once a month. 

July 11. 1684. There was a Church meeting at my house, I put them in 
mind of their promise to help me build, so they determined to speak with 
the town about it. 

July 28. Two children very ill with fever & ague. 

29. Lieutenant Holbrook was my Attorney against Hezekiah Usher who 
had arrested me. 

30. Mr Usher lost his action, I gave my Attorney 10 s 

Aug 6. I was at my house to see my oats mowed. In the evening I 
borrowed £2. of John Daniels 

13. Mr Clark the pewterer was to see me, after that my dear & I went 
to our house. 

14. I went to Boston, being sent for with the rest of the Elders by the 
Court of Assistants to give advise about him w r ho had blasphemed, which 
the Elders did. 

15 Ephraim & Peg had the fever & ague. 

26. 1 trammelled my wifes horse to teach him to amble. 

Sep. 1. I went to Town to make up accounts with Mr Cox which I 
did. 

5. John Redman carried 30 bushels of barley for me to Mr Pierponts. 

8. Mr Fisk & I went to Cambridge artillery heard Mr Shepard of 
Charlestown. 


656 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


15. went to Duxbury, God pleased to preserve me when my horse 
stumbled, so that he was in danger of breaking his neck. 

Oct 13. In the evening Brother Clap & his wife, brother Ephraim 
Tucker Joseph & John Redman with my family husked out 20 bushels of 
corn. 

Oct 15. Mr Mighill was ordained at Scituate. 

Octo 22. A general fast thro the three united Colonies. 

28. I went to Mendon to the Ordination of Mr Grandel Rawson — Mr. 
Eisk & I lodged at brother Chapins 

31. Neighbor Daniel bought a cow for me I paid him £2.15.6. Jolin 
Redman killed her for me, she weighed 516 lbs. 

Nov. 5. Brother Clap, Nat Wales, & Ebed planted about four scoi*e 
appletrees in my orchard 

Nov. 6. I went to Boston lecture heai*d Mr Allen the elders were invited 
to dine with the Govoner and Magistrates, which we did. 

12. I was engaged in ordering things in my barn in order to make room 
for my creatures. 

19. I went to Brush Hill & Deacon Allen was there with whom I dis¬ 
coursed about the dimensions of my house, & he gave me his advice. 

30. This day the town brought me 30 loads of wood. 

Dec 2. The Church met at my house about their promise to help me 
build & after much discourse they subscribed £6.5, in money £1.15 country 
pay £5. in work. 

Dec 3. Treated with Joseph Tucker about building my house. 

Dec 5. R. Smith & Ebed began to dig clay to make bricks 

Dec 16 — Went and solemnly discoursed with Jane Yose giving her 
much good counsel. 

26. This morning Sargent Badcock & Peter Lion were at my house to 
get me to go & treat with Sargent Yose about consenting to Peters marrying 
his daughter. 

30. Treated with Sargent Vose about giving his consent that P. Lion 
should marry his daughter Jane, but his answer was plainly negative. 

Jan 3. 1685. I went with Sargent Badcock to treat with Jane Yose & to 
acquaint that her father could not consent, whereupon we labored abun¬ 
dantly to take off her affections &c — 

Jan. 6. Wcntto Sargent Badcocks, he & I labored much with Peter Lion 
& Jane Vose. 

Jan 29. In the evening I paid Mr Starre 7-| in money for sawing my 
plank 280 feet — Obediah Wheaton had credit for 7 s 6 d — 

March 10 There was a Town Meeting where I propounded two questions 
to the Town, whether they judged it was not in the power of the Town to 
make a legal conveyance of the 20 acres to me and my heirs which the Town 
had given me a deed of. Second Whether it was expected that I should 
return it without a valuable consideration. 

13. My dear was so ill that we sent for midwife Wiet, she was delivered 
of a daughter stillborn. 

April 10. There was a meeting to see whether they would give me a 
valuable consideration for my land, seeing they could not confirm the title. 

Nov 14, 1689. Myself, wife children & family removed from Milton 
Ministerial house to our own house, & God made me very earnest in prayer 
that the guilt and filth of our old sins might not follow us to that new habi¬ 
tation but that God would pardon what we had done amiss & please to come 
under our roof & keep our house with us & dwell in the habitation. 

15. Margaret Reeding being with us upon a visit was taken with the 
small pox & we put her to bed in the chamber next the study, it was very 
surprizing to us. 



APPENDIX B. 


657 


Nov. 16 1689—We sent for Goodwife Pope to nurse Margaret & she 
came with Jonathan Badeock, that night & when she saw Margaret she said 
it was the small pox. 

18. I kept a fast in my family on account of the small pox. 

22. The Glazier brought home four casements of glass. 

24. This day Margaret took the fresh air. 

25. Margaret Reeding went to Boston behind Ebed, & got w r ell thither. 
I married Thomas Davis & Abigail Wadsworth 

Dec 12. 1690. Myself, Mr Clap, my wife & family kept a fast to seek a 
pardon for our personal & family sins (the small pox was in the families 
in Milton). 

Dec 26, 1690. There hath died in the Town in sixteen months last past 
30 men, women & children, 13 of the small pox 17 of other distempers most 
of them of the fever. 14 were communicants, 12 were in full communion 
with the Chui'ch, and there hath been sixty six visited with the small pox 
in the Town in about a year. The small pox hath been three times brought 
into the Town, in the compass of a year, the two first arrows were shot as 
it were God’s warning pieces — the first was into one family whereof one 
died, & it was out of the town for a good while, then one person was 
taken, & sent to the family which was first taken & it pleased God that no 
more had it, & about four months ago it was sent into Daniel Ellens, & 
since 12 have died with it & it is now in fourteen familys. 

Jan 13.1699. Wehad an exceeding greatfeatof wind for near 24hours 
which blew down my little house & the wind was south west & very cold. 

Feb 27. 1699. There was a great rain, which made a great flood & car¬ 
ried away some of the planks from the bridge before Jonathan Badcocks 
house, so that there was. no passing over that way, it flowed into my garden 
farther than the height of the lowest pair of rails. 

Judge Samuel Sewells account of Thacher funeral Lords day Dec 17, 
1727,1 was surprised to hear Mr Thacher of Milton, my old friend, prayed 
for as dangerously sick, next day I was informed by Mr Gerrish that my 
dear friend died last night which I doubt bodes ill to Milton & the Province, 
his dying at this time tho in the 77 year of his age. Deus revertat omen. 
Friday Dec. 22, this day after the fast he was interred. Bearers, Rev 
Nehemiah Walker, Mr jos Baxter, Mr John Swift, M r Samuel Hunt, Mr 
Jos Sewell Mr Tho 5 Prince. I was inclined before, & having a pair of 
gloves sent me, I determined to go to the funeral if the weather proved 
favorable, which it did & I hired Blakes coach with four horses, My son, 
Mr Cooper & Mr Prince went with me—refreshed them with meat & 
drink, got thither about-half past one, & I was — to see triumphed over my 
dear friend. I rode in my coach to the hurrying place, not being able to 
get nearer by reason of the many horses. From thence went directly to the 
Hill where the smiths shop & got home very comfortably & easily the ground 
being mollified, but when I came to my own gate, going I fell down, a 
board slipped under my feet, my right leg raid off the skin & put me in a 
great deal of pain especially when I was rubbed with rum, Mr Walter 
prayed before the corps was carried out. Had gloves & a ring given me. 
Mr Miller of the Chh of England was there. At this funeral I heard of the 
death of my good friend Capt. Nat. Niles. I have now been at the fune- 
rals of four of my Class Mates, that morning the Rev Williams Adams of 
Dedham. 


APPENDIX C. 


THE WATCH OF REV. PETER THACHER, OF MILTON, 
MASS. 


D URING the visit of Mr. Thacher in England, in 1676, a few 
years after his graduation, he was presented with a silver 
watch by Thomas Planner, of London, who was a member of the 
famous guild of goldsmiths in that city, and was the maker of 
the watch. It is regarded as a great curiosity, and is now 
deposited in the cabinet of the Bostonian Society in the Old 
State House, in Boston. On the face is inscribed, “ Planner, 
London.” Within it is engraved : — 


Tho: Planner, 319, 
London. 


It is considerably more than twice the thickness of modern 
watches. Outside the circle on the face, upon which the hours 
are marked in Roman numerals, is another, upon which the 
minutes are engraved in figures, “ 5 ” over the hour “ I,” and so 
increasing by five each hour, the figures over “ XII ” being 
“ 60.” 

This watch came to Rev. Peter Thacher, of Attleborough, 
1716-1785 (H. C. 1737), grandson of Rev. Peter, of Milton, from 
his father, Rev. Peter, of Middleborough, 1688-1744 (H. C. 1706), 
and has descended through this line of Attleborough Thachers to 
Mr. Peter Thacher, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, now of Lake 
Masy, Fla., who presented it to the Bostonian Society. It may 
well be considered a relic of a Bostonian, as Rev. Peter Thacher, 
after his marriage with Theodora Oxenbridge, resided a number 
of years in Boston previous to his settlement at Milton. 

A gentleman, now living saw this watch in the possession of 
the second Deacon Peter Thacher, of Attleborough, grandson of 
Rev. Peter, of Attleborough, in 1853. This Deacon Peter was 
the grandfather of the donor, Peter, of Florida. He then wore 







APPENDIX C. 


659 


it on his person, and exhibited it to this gentleman, relating its 
history. 

It has often been said of this watch, that, unlike most watches, 
“ it has never been bought or sold.” 

PETER THACHER, 

85 Milk street, Boston. 


October 8, 1887. 





INDEX. 






INDEX 


PAGE 


PAGE 


Academy, Milton.326-344 

Academy, Milton, Presidents of.. 342 
Academy, Milton, Teachers of... 343 
Academy, Milton, Trustees of, 341-342 

Adams, Edward H.71, 189 

Adams Family.554-556 

Adams, Hezekiah. 154 

Adams, Dea. John. 155 

Adams, Dea. Samuel. 155 

Adams, Dea. Samuel-182, 386, 535 

Adams, Dr. Peter. 323 

Agassiz, Prof. 62 

Allen, Rev. John. 368 

Allyne, Abel. 131 

Altitudes, Table of.82, 83 

Angier, Rev. Joseph.132, 269 

Anniversary, Two Hundredth, 299-302 
Anniversary of Suffolk Resolves, 

302-303 

Appendix. 629 

Arrow-Head Hill. 633 

Atherton, Maj. Jedediah. 169 


Babcock, Benjamin.13, 22, 27 

Babcock, Cornelius. 119 

Babcock, Rev. Elisha G. 536 

Babcock, Josiah.119, 120 

Babcock, Maj. Josiah. 157 

Babcock, Rev. Josiah. 536 

Babcock, J. William. 308 

Babcock, Lemuel W.:.. 168 

Babcock, Rufus.. 536 

Babcock, Samuel.119, 120, 155 

Babcock, Stephen. 164 

Babcock, William.134, 154, 161 

Bache, Prof. 77 

Bacon, Miss L. D. 348 

Badcock Family.117-120 

Badcock, George .... .22, 117 


Badcock, Jonathan .. .20, 21, 60, 161, 
198 

Badcock, Robert.. .12, 14, 17, 20, 21, 
26, 32, 156, 191 
Baker, Edmund J., 70,84, 85,112, 126, 
131, 134, 156, 171, 179, 307, 368 


Baker, George M. 336 

Bakeries.385-386 

Baldwin, Edward. 159 

Balkam, William H. 386 

Balster’s Brook. 166 

Banfield, Everett C. 336 

Banks.308-309 

Bater, John. 50 

Baxter, George 0. 445 

Beals, Benjamin. 121 

~ sals, Jonathan.18, 121, 154 

Beals, Nathaniel H. 155 

Belcher, Rev. Joseph.118, 128. 

Belcher, Moses.40, 184, 185 

Belknap, Dr. Jeremy. 323 

Bent, Ann.'.346, 536-538 

Bent, George E. 445 

Bent, Capt. Josiah.130, 183, 386 

Bent, Lieut. Josiah. 445 

Bent, Rev. Josiah, Jr.538-539 

Bent, S. T.154, 386 

Bible, Indian. 8 

Billings, Charles Howland Ham- 

matt . 171 

Billings, Ebenezer. 172 

Billings, Joseph.74, 170, 171, 385 

Billings, Roger. 171 

Birds of Milton.622-627 

Blacke, Edward. 276 

Blacke, William.. .. 276 

Blake, Edward. 177 

Blake Family..557-559 

Blake, James.17, 112, 124 

Blake, William, Sr... .17, 33,' 191, 196 

Blake, Ziba.177, 186 

Boies, James.172, 397 

Boies, Jeremiah Smith. .160, 200, 399 

Borden, Simeon. 75 

Bourne, Nehemiah.12, 13, 22, 27, 

29, 36 

Bouse, Rev. Mr. 237 

Brackett, Anthony S. 346 

Bradlee, J. Walter. 169 

Bradlee, Capt. John. 169 

Bradlee, John D. .. .169, 170, 171, 388 










































































664 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


PAGE 


PAGE 


Breck, C. E. C. 159 

Breck, Charles_52-55, 56, 80, 123, 

156, 160, 198, 280, 296, 306 

Breck, James. 163 

Bremer, Eredrika. 140 

Bridges.359-363 

Briggs, Daniel.115, 131, 383 

Briggs, Thomas S. 131 

Bronsdon, Amos H. 445 

Bronsdon, Benjamin . 164 

Brooks, John W. 121 

Broome, Samuel. 137 

Brougniart, Prof. A. ... . 64 

Browne, John M. 522 

Bryant, Gridley. 391 

Bugbee, William .. 70 

Bullocke, Edward. 12 

Buss, Samuel L. 123 

Bygrave, Rev. Hilary. 272 


Calef, E. Winter. 186 

Calef, Joseph.159, 184 

Capen, Dea. Edward. 176 

Celebration of National Indepen¬ 
dence. 298 

Cemetery, Milton... 466 

Cemetery, Milton, Additions to.. 468 
Cemetery, Milton, Ancient In¬ 
scriptions..478-498 

Cemetery, Milton, Benefactors 

of.474-476 

Cemetery, Milton, By-laws of, 473-474 

Chamberlain, E. G.76, 85 

Channing, Rev. George G. 132 

Channing, Dr. William Ellery... 162 

Chickataubut.2, 7, 78 

Chilton, Mary. 255 

Chipman, Mr.. 346 

Chocolate-Mill, First. 372 

Churchill, Hon. Asaph. .130,158, 186, 
515-521 

Churchill, Hon. Joseph M... 130, 231, 
521-522 

Clapp, Edwin.167, 168 

Clapp, Preceptor Edwin.333, 337 

Clapp, Eliphas. 168 

Clapp, Ezra.23, 27, 161, 196 

Clapp Family.559-561 

Clapp, Lewis.. 167, 168 

Clapp, Nicholas.17, 71 

Clark, Miss Susan W. 174 

Clark, William H. 183 

Clayton, H. Helm. 78 

Coal Business. 365 

Coats, Ezra.159, 184 

Collectors. 228 

Collicot, Richard... .7, 13, 18, 19, 20, 
32, 39, 117, 127, 153, 194, 360 


Collins, Edward... . 336 

Colson, David. 385 

Cook, Samuel.181,210 

Cook, Walter T. 387 

Coolidge, Rev. James I. T. 132 

Copeland, C. L.. .181, 183 

Copeland, Isaac. 183 

Corliss, Daniel G... 395 

Cotton, Josiah. 635 

Cotton’s Vocabulary. 636 

Cozzens, Rev. Samuel W.. 159 

Cranch, Madame. 324 

Crane, Benjamin.44, 45, 46, 63, 

165, 180 

Crane Family. 108 

Crane, Henry ... .32, 56, 105, 107-109 

Crehore, Benjamin.149, 150, 377 

Crehore, Diana . 178 

Crehore Family. .561-562 

Crehore, John. 178 

Crehore, John Shepard. 178 

Crehore, Teague.20, 21, 156 

Crombie, Franklin. 346 

Cunningham, Edward.185, 194 

Cunningham, Rev. Francis. 132 

Cushing, G. S. 159 

Damon, Noah.119, 177 

Daniels, John. 22 

Daniels, William.12, 13, 22, 116 

Davenport, Adam .... . 131 

Davenport Family.562-565 

Davenport, Isaac. 172 

Davenport, Lewis. 388 

Davenport, Nathaniel. 388 

Davenport, Nathaniel T. 388 

Davie, Humphrey. 368 

Davis, William.157, 385, 539 

Davis, William H. 163 

Degan, Mrs. 148 

Drake, Jeremy. 345 

Drew, John. 131 

Dudley, Benjamin F... .122, 125, 193, 

394 

Dudley, Paul. 112 

Duncan, Nathaniel.14, 20 

Eliot, Rev. John..8, 9 

Ellen, Nicholas .13, 23, 104 

Emerson, Miss Jennie E.293 

Emerson, Rev. Joseph.236-237 

Emerson, Joshua. 119 

Eulogy on Death of President 

Harrison. 298 

Eulogy on General Washington.. 297 

Eustis, Rev. F. A. 163 

Everden, Walter. 369 

Everett, Samuel.364,365 

































































































INDEX. 


665 


PAGE 

Fairbank, Josiah.162, 345 

Farrington, Jonathan. 180 

Fancon, Capt. E. H.123, 132 

Faulkner, Janies. 388 

Felt, Willard. 155 

Fenno, Enoch.160, 161 

Fenno, Joseph.149, 150 

Ferry, Simon .. 177 

Field, Lieut. Josiah H. Y___ 334 

Fire Department ..311-313 

First Things. 367 

Fisher, Joshua. 84 

Fletcher, George A.. 386 

Floriculture . 388 

Flowers of Milton.592-599 

Flowers of Milton, List of.. .600-613 

Follen, Rev. Dr. Charles_162, 163 

Foord, James. 176 

Foord, Nathan . 176 

Forbes Family.567-570 

Forbes, John M.70, 121, 122, 131, 

208, 569 

Forbes, Capt. R. B. .122, 131, 409, 568 

Forbes, Col. W. H.131, 338, 570 

Ford, Elisha. 123 

Ford, Jazeniah. 160 

Fosdick, Henry M. 85 

Fowler, Mrs.249, 250 

Foye, Provincial Treas., Will¬ 
iam .22, 114, 135 

French, Capt. Alpheus. 157 

Frothingham, Rev. Frederick ... 270 

Gannett, George K.183, 210, 364, 

365, 458 

Gannett, Samuel. 364 

Gardner, Dr. Samuel_70, 114, 115, 

131, 526 

Gerrish, Willard P. 78 

Gile, Rev. Dr.132, 162, 249, 250, 

265-267 

Gill, Gen. Jacob.148, 149 

Gill, John.19, 104, 127, 128, 129, 

189, 191, 368 

Gilman, Rev. George P. 272 

Glover, Elijah.121, 122, 123 


Glover, John . .13, 14, 21, 23, 24, 127, 
157, 190 

Glover, Dr. Samuel K.. .122, 123, 132, 
150, 307, 529-530 

Glover, Miss Sarah. 323 

Glover, Theodore R.115, 122 

Godfrey, O. S. 365 

Gooch, Col. Joseph.62, 130, 134 

Gookin, Major.2, 8, 9, 404, 405 

Gourgas, John Mark.501,502 

Grain Business.... 364 

Granite Business. 389 


PAGE 

Grenaway, John.12, 22 

Griswold, Joseph W. 448 

Grand, Francis J. 325 

Gulliver, Anthony... .26, 30, 56, 105, 
106, 127, 154 

Gulliver, Dea. Cornelius. 162 

Gulliver, John.56, 162, 163 

Gulliver, Lieut. Jonathan.. .106, 107, 
127, 162, 245 

Gulliver, Capt. Lemuel.106, 163 

Haley, Madame.137, 138 

Hall, George W., Jr. 448 

Hancock, John. 69 

Harding, Rev. W. M. 272 

Harling, Thomas. 168 

Harris, Dr. Thaddeus William .. 530 

Harvard, Graduates of.355-356 

Hayward, Dr. Lemuel. 323 

Henshaw, Samuel.539-540 

High School.348-350 

Hill, Rev. C. G...257, 271 

Hinckley, Thomas H..187, 540 

Hobart, Caleb.155, 156, 385, 541 

Hobart, Rev. Caleb. 542 

Hobart, William. 364 

Holbrook, Dr. Amos.. .132, 133, 138, 
139, 150, 337, 527-528 

Holbrook, Thomas.127, 128 

Hollingsworth, George.542-544 

Hollis, Thomas. 395 

Holman, John..13, 18, 19, 104 

Holmes, Dr. C. C.532-533 

Horse-Thief Society.., 310 

Horton, Asa.62, 184, 185 

Horton, Stephen. 185 

Houghton, Ebenezer.. .44, 45, 46, 63, 
180 

Houghton Family.565-567 

Houghton, Dea. Jason.180, 323 

Houghton, Dea. Oliver. 178 

Houghton, Ralph.63, 175, 180 

How Family.570-572 

How, Josiah.115,169, 186 

How, Miss Peggy .. 324 

Hull, Capt. John. 368 

Hunt, Elijah M. 448 

Hunt, Isaiah. 448 

Hunt, Rev. John. 544 

Hunt, Joseph.180, 185 

Hunt, Rev. Nathan.. 272 

Hunt, Samuel, Jr. 449 

Hunt, Sereno D.337, 348 

Huntoon, Rev. Benjamin_268-269 

Hutchinson, Mrs. Ann.20, 26 


Hutchinson, Gov. Thomas...26, 115, 
121, 128 

Hutchinson, William .. .13, 24, 25, 26 
























































































666 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


PAGE 

Hutchinson, William S.. .544 

Ice Business. 387 

Indians. 1, 2 

Inoculation. 500 

Jackson, Lieut. Albert. 449 

Jaques, Dr. Henry P. 534 

Jeffrey, Patrick.137-139 

Kennedy, Artemas.181, 385 

Kennedy, Dr. Charles Rollen. .530-531 

Kennedy, Jason F.364, 386 

Kidder, H. P.13, 294 

Kinsley, Stephen..22, 189, 193 

Kitchamakin.7, 39 

Leonard, Rev. Edwin. 272 

Leslie, Rev. J. P. 270 

Lewis, Thomas.14, 26 

Library, Agricultural. 292 

Library, Circulating. 291 

Library, Public.292-295 

Library, Social.. .. .290-291 

Lillie, John.544-546 

Lion, Preserved. 177 

Lisle, Henry Maurice.144, 512 

Littlefield, Dr. John. 210 

Littlefield, Samuel.115, 135 

Long, George. 449 

Longfellow, Henry W. 63 

Lothrop, Rev. Dr.131, 132 

Lumber Business. 365 

Lyons, Martin. 450 

Man, Rev. Samuel.239-240, 279 

Marsh, E. J.. 335 

Marshall, John.184, 185 

Martin, Albert E. B. 450 

Martin, H. B.394, 395 

Martin, J. Wesley.382, 394, 395 

Martin, Nathan C.307, 308 

Massachusetts, Name of.6, 631 

Mather, Samuel. 187 

McKean, Rev. Joseph. .144, 161, 162, 

260-265 

McLean, Hugh.173, 397-398 

McLean, John.173, 399-401 

Memorial Tablet. 289 

Mendall, Freegrace. 368 

Messenger, H. S. 388 

Metcalf, Nathan. 345 

Mighill, Rev. Thomas.. .237, 239, 279 

Military Companies. . 432 

Miller, Miss Annette.148,326 

Miller, Rev. Ebenezer. 130 

Miller, John. 35 

Miller, Rev. John. 546 


Miller, Samuel.40, 128, 129 

Miller, Col. Stephen.129, 182 

Milton News. 307 

Milton Soldiers, List of.459-464 

Mingo... 168 

Moderators. 229 

Morison, Rev. John H.. .126, 132, 269 

Morton, Capt. Joseph W. 450 

Murray, Hon. Amelia M. 122 

Murray, James.174, 422 

Myers, John.167, 387 

Myers, Nathaniel T. 451 

Nanepashemet.3, 4 

Newton, Anthony.13, 27, 104 

Obbatinewat.3, 4 

Oliver, John.12, 84 

Otheman, Rev. Edward. 271 

Owners and Occupants of Houses, 

86-101 

Palmer, Dr. Simeon. 531 

Paper-Mill, First. 370 

Parker, Rev. W. W. 271 

Parsons, Joseph A. 452 

Peabody, Col. O.W.112, 131 

Perkins, Edward C.522-523 

Perkins, Lieut. Stephen G. 452 

Piano-forte, First. 378 

Pierce, Edward L... 142, 162,287-288, 
523-524 

Pierce Family.572-573 

Pierce, Henry L. 370 

Pierce, Col. Jesse.325, 345 

Pierce, Joel. 345 

Pierce, John. 345 

Pierce, Otis. 345 

Pierce, Rufus.115, 119, 155 

Pierce, Rev. Warren.332, 336, 

337 

Pitcher, Andrew..14, 27 

Plympton, Jeremiah. 346 

Pope, Henry.307, 308 

Pope, Henry A. 308 

Pope, J. Frank. 387 

Porter, Joseph. 365 

Post-Offices .307-308 

Pratt, Benjamin.120-121 

Quarries. 394 

Railroad, First. 381 

Rawson, David.106, 107, 127 

Rawson, Dr. Eliot. 526 

Rawson, Rev. Grindall. 155 

Read, Benjamin.161, 162 

Read, James.,160, 575 

































































































INDEX. 


667 


PAGE 

Read, J. Elijah. 162 

Read, Thomas. 160 

Redman, Robert.23, 131 

Reed Family.573-574 

Reed, Jason. 159 

Reed, Capt. J. Sewall. 452 

Reed, Rev. W. C. 271 

Representative.233-235 

Revere, Col. Paul.336, 430 

Rice, H. J. 395 

Rimmer, Dr. William. 532 

Rivers, George R. R. 524 


Robbins, Hon. E. H. .. .129, 130, 131, 
168, 177, 178, 187, 331, 337, 


513-514 

Robbins, Hon. James M.. .37, 71,171, 
249, 305, 331, 337, 546-549 
Robbins, Rev. Nathaniel. 162, 257-268 

Rockwood, W. 0. Y. 453 

Rossiter, Bray. 25 

Rotch, A. Lawrence. 77 

Rotcb, B. S.162, 164, 599, 627 

Rowe, Jacob. 114 

Rowe, John.512-513 

Rowe, Joseph.114, 514-515 

Ruggles Family. 575 

Ruggles, Hon. John. 576 

Ruggles, Philarman. .. 156 

Ruggles, Thomas. 575 

Russell, Col. H. S.129, 162, 570 

Russell, Jonathan.549-550 

Russell, Mrs. Lydia Smith.. .139, 140 
Russell, William. 325 

Safford, Hon. Nathaniel F. .. .37, 150, 

Salsbury, William.13, 28, 104 

Sampson, Aunt Sally. 181 

Sanderson, Isaac.148, 149 

Sanderson, Robert. 368 

Scaff, John. 453 

School Committee.231-233 

Schools.317-356 

Scotts Family.. 179 

Seal of Milton.303-307 

Selectmen. 221-226 

Senter, Lyman W.388 

Severance, F. M. 366 

Shaw, John A. 386 

Shays’Rebellion. 440 

Sherman, Roger. 323 

Shirley, Gov.24, 46, 113 

Butting-Mill, First. 373 

Small-pox.499-508 

Smith, Barney. 139 

Smith, James, Jr.173-174 

Smith, Jeremiah.128, 396-397 

Smith, Capt. John.1, 3, 68 


PAGE 

Smith, Nanny. 181 

Smith, Oren. 346 

Society of Christian Endeavor .. 296 

Society, Female Missionary. 296 

Society, Literary.296, 297 

Society, Social and Benevolent.. 295 
Soldiers in Early Campaigns .... 416 

Spare, Dr. John. 532 

Spooner, Dr. John P. 337 

Sprague, Dr. John... 529 

Stebbins, Rev. Roderick. 270 

Stone, Miss Anna.550-551 

Stone-cutting. 394 

Stoughton, Israel. .12, 18, 21, 24, 28, 
29, 36,153, 367 
Stoughton, Gov. William. .18, 29, 164 

Stratton, Dr. Wallace C. 534 

Suffolk Resolves .425-429 

Sumner, Charles Pinckney.. .297, 579 
Sumner,Maj.-Gen.EdwinYose.. 456 

Sumner, Dr. Enos.160, 526 

Sumner Family.577-579 

Sumner, George.56, 165, 276 

Sumner, Mindwell. 162 

Sumner, Roger. 175 

Sumner, Seth.160, 167 

Swan, Francis. 336 

Swan, William Henry. 346 

Swift Estate. 124 

Swift, Dr. George Baker. 530 

Swift, Capt. John.125, 126 

Swift, Col. Samuel. 125 

Swift, Samuel.510, 511 

Swift, Thomas_9, 56, 71, 124, 165, 

191 

Talbot, William H. 170 

Tanneries. 385 

Taylor, Rev. John .. 159, 254-257, 282 

Taylor, Col. William. 143 

Tax-payers.212-220 

Teachers of Milton.351-354 

Teele, Rev. Albert K.271, 272 

Thacher, Oxenbridge.161, 245 

Thacher, Oxenbridge, Jr.509-510 

Thacher, Rev. Peter.10, 198, 199, 

240-254 

Thacher, Rev. Peter, Journal of, 

641-657 

Thacher, Rev. Peter, his Watch, 


658-659 

Thacher, Lieut.-Gov. W. 453 

Thanksgiving. 411 

Thayer, Charles H. 453 

Thayer, Gideon F. 325 

Thayer, Henry F... 388 

Thayer, Prof. James B.126, 326 

Thompson, George. 308 


























































































66.8 


HISTORY OF MILTON. 


PAGE 


PAGE 


Tileston, John B. 336 

Todd, R. M...... 365 

Tolman, William E. 336 

Town Clerks. 227 

Town Property. 313 

Town Treasurers..227-228 

Town Votes.314-316 

Trees of Milton.614-622 

Trescott, Samuel.173, 200 

Trott, John.161, 173 

Trumbull, J. Hammond-6, 10, 35, 

357, 631, 634, 638 

Tucker, Ilea. Amariah. 176 

Tucker, Dea. David. 182 

Tucker, Ebenezer .. .44, 165, 167, 430 

Tucker, Rev. Ebenezer.. 551 

Tucker, Rev. Elijah W. 551 

Tucker Eamily.579-582 

Tucker, Capt. Isaac. 182 

Tucker, Dea. Isaac... 182 

Tucker, Dea. Jesse. 182 

Tucker, Dr. Jesse. 529 

Tucker, Dea. John A.37, 38 

Tucker, Joshua. 183 

Tucker, Josiah. .551-552 

Tucker, Lewis.162, 182 

Tucker, Mrs. Lusanna. 179 

Tucker, Manassah.40, 167, 180 

Tucker, Dea. Nathan.176, 177 

Tucker, Capt. Nathaniel.181, 386 

Tucker, Robert... .37, 38, 39, 56, 305 
306 


Tucker, Samuel .. .179, 181, 183, 203, 
385 

Tucker, Dea. S. L. 210 

Turner, Dr. Benjamin. 529 

Turner, Jacob A. 387 

Vaccination . 501 

Vase, T. David. 454 

Vines, Richard . 2 

Violoncello, Eirst. 377 

Vose, Daniel. .149, 150, 170, 184, 363, 
364, 398, 425, 431 
Vose, Col. Elijah. .154, 157, 186, 439, 


585 

Vose Eamily.582-589 

Vose, George Ellis. 454 

Vose, Miss Hannah.170, 323 

Vose, Rev. James G. 336 

Vose, Gen. Joseph. .157,159, 439, 584 

Vose, Col. Josiah H.441, 586 

Vose, Capt. Lewis.149, 150 

Vose, Nathaniel.583-584 | 


Vose, Robert .. .24, 56, 124, 157, 195, 
277, 582 

Vose, Hon. Roger. 552 

Vose, Miss Sarah H.150, 295, 585 

Vose, Solomon.511, 512, 584 

Vose, Thomas.15, 20, 170, 323 

Vose’s Raid. 435 


Wadsworth, Rev. Dr. Benjamin.. 183 


Wadsworth, Dea. Ebenezer. 274 

Wadsworth, Capt. E. D.153, 351, 

365 

Wadsworth Eamily.589-591 

Wadsworth, Capt. Samuel.. 153, 183, 

194, 406-408 

War, Civil. 442 

War, King Philip’s. 402 

War, King William’s. 409 

War, Queen Anne’s. 411 

War, Revolutionary. 417 

War of 1812 ..... . 441 

Ware, Ashur. 515 

Ware, Horace E. 525 

Ware, Dr. Jonathan.134, 149, 531 

Ward, Joseph. 186 

Warren, Hon. James. 137 

Warren, Gen. Joseph.137, 425 

Warren, Mercy. 137 

Washburne, Rev. Erancis T. 270 

Washburne, Gov. William P. 182 

Weather Tables. 153 

Webster, Daniel. 117 

Webster, Horatio. 386 

Welsh, Duncan. 388 

Welsh, James.,. 388 

Wheeler, Rev. Mr. 272 

White, Peter..157, 203 

White’s Lane.157, 203 

Whitfield, George.116-117 

Whitney, Mrs. A. D. T.159, 300, 

552-553 

Whitney, H. A.38, 167, 168, 172 

Whitney, Gen. Moses.. .123, 132, 150, 
158, 171, 307, 385, 554 

Whitney, Seth D.159, 365 

Willard, Solomon . 391 

Winslow, Edward. 255 

Winslow, John. ... 255 

Wiswall, John. 368 

Wiswall, Rev. Mr.237, 279 

Witherell, Rev. Mr. 271 

Wood, Nicholas.14,24 


Wolcott, Lieut. Huntington F., 

454-456 


Press of Rockwell and Churchill, Boston. 



































































































































